


Passive

by Tinyomegapup



Series: To the Eye of the Beholder [1]
Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Affairs, Crime Scenes, Detective Work, Killing, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Romance?, RuviSeb, Scandal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-03-16 23:30:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 44,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3506765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinyomegapup/pseuds/Tinyomegapup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sebastian Castellanos is heading up an investigation on the murder of doctors at Beacon Mental Hospital. Through a list of suspects, he meets a mutilated aristocrat, who is mysterious and curious and causes Sebastian uncertainty. His ability to juggle a case an an eccentric rich boy might just be put to the test as he searches for the killer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Beacon in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be god awful. My first time writing a tew fanfic and I'm hoping I can get the perfect RuviSeb. Sorry JoSeb.  
> And if the quality sucks let me know because I can only write on my phone. So I have no tab button for sure.

Sebastian Castellanos was not normally the questioning type. Most of the jobs he had as a detective were basic. Normally he never found a tedious job. Even murder cases were basic. The killer was always sloppy and left more than enough clues for him to follow. Buried in his work this way, case after case, the bloodhound of the Krimson City Police Department.

Sitting at his desk, he flipped through various papers. Many different cases. For a few they had suspect lists, and already he found the killer at his desk through a brief glance. Or the one who stole the item that was lost. All of this was trivial, a few he set aside to look at more in depth, the tougher ones. Sebastian always liked a challenge; though he wasn't vocal about it, he was very obviously into his work and had an unconscious desire for those who committed crimes to keep doing them so he could catch them and put them in their place. That was probably why he chose Krimson City. A decent city, but Sebastian knew all of the darkness it held. Something he could never fully destroy, but was eager to work on and fight as much as he could.

He didn't hear as footsteps approached his desk until a gloved hand tapped at the wood, causing him to jerk up from his peering over papers. A young man stood before him, eyes narrowed behind glasses. Both had slicked back hair, though this young man had far neater a complexion than Sebastian did.

"I thought I would find you here," the man said.

"Joseph," Sebastian regarded his partner with a dull tone. He felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Today was your day off, Sebastian."

"I didn't feel like staying home," he said, not glancing up from the papers. Each case was as dull as the last. He was craving something more exciting. He could feel Joseph's gaze on him, and it made his jaw clench. He hated when Joseph looked at him with disappointment. He was Joseph's elder, and dammit the boy should respect him. He set down the papers after a longer period of silence, looking up to meet Joseph's hardened gaze.

"Well since you're here," the boy said in defeat, "you might as well help out."

Sebastian sat up in his seat, his hands resting on his knees. "Oh? What's going on?"

Joseph pulled his small notebook from his vest pocket, slightly adjusting his glasses. "Well some police are out investigating a murder. Looks like some doctors were slaughtered at the Beacon Mental Hospital. I was going to head over... Since you want to be on the job you might as well come with me."

With a nod, Sebastian tucked all the papers into a large folder, tossing it into a drawer of his desk. He stood and pulled a large trench coat from its place hanging on his chair and began to follow Joseph out. Most of the police were out doing business, and Joseph said they might as well take a police vehicle to make sure they can hear all that's happening. Sebastian didn't object, though he never really liked the obvious police cars.

"Do you know much of what happened?" Sebastian asked. He went right to the passenger's seat. Joseph never trusted him with driving, and whenever the young man got in the car he would always glance at the flask on Sebastian's hip.

Joseph flipped on the ignition, driving out from the police garages. "I only heard it looks like a slaughterhouse right where the doctors were killed," Joseph said. "It's probably a good thing you're here. Sounds like the other cops can't make heads or tails of it." Sebastian just nodded, and silence ensued the vehicle until they pulled into the gates of the mental hospital. As Sebastian got out he felt mild disgust. He hated this place. It was looming, dark, intimidating. It was also the center of Krimson City. It reflected something Sebastian was determined to get rid of, not keep. "No city should be built around insanity."

Joseph seemed to not hear his comment. If he heard it, he wasn't saying anything about it. Instead he looked around. "I thought Kidman was already here... I heard she had already left for here..."

Sebastian nudged Joseph, gesturing to the front doors of the hospital. Juli stood there, talking to a few men wearing the standard doctor uniforms. They all looked shaken up, especially as Joseph and Sebastian approached.

Juli turned in greeting to them when she heard their footsteps. "About time you two showed up," she said, arms crossing over her chest. The doctors all glanced from Juli, to Joseph, then Sebastian, and back down the line. One particular doctor seemed completely shaken up, looking over at the grand doors of the hospital with frightened eyes.

Sebastian latched onto this man. His gaze had settled on him, stopping just beside Juli as he watched the doctor. The man had looked at the hospital a moment longer before turning, realization on his eyes that he was being stared at. Their eyes locked for a second, but the man looked away with little hesitation. Sebastian frowned, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach about the man.

"You two should get inside and see it," Juli murmured to Sebastian. She was aware of his piercing eyes on the doctor. "Doctor Marcelo Jimenez, I'm sorry, but could you escort them? I think they should see Leslie, too."

Doctor Jimenez nodded, small and curt. He looked at Joseph and Sebastian warily. "Detective Castellanos," he said, glancing down to Sebastian's belt to see his gun clearly present. Sebastian's eyes narrowed; he didn't like that this doctor was being cautious around him. Normally victims of circumstance in a position such as a doctor were eager to get this kind of stuff over and done with, so as not to taint the reputation of the hospital. This man seemed to be more concerned of his own health and safety than that of his patients.

The three approached the door, all slow and wary of each other. The doctor paused at the door, looking visibly sick. "I don't think I can look at what happened to them again..." he said, looking over not to Sebastian but Joseph for sympathy. He was trembling in his coats, eyes glancing about from Joseph to the door. Joseph had his hand resting on the door, but he pulled it back and glanced to Sebastian.

"We have to go in there but I suppose we can ask major questions out here," he said. The doctor nodded, his shoulders relaxing a little in appreciation. "So do you know what happened here? We already established it looks like a slaughterhouse but is there any more you can tell us?"

The doctor straightened up, and though he was still shaking he at least looked like he wanted to be professional now. Joseph stood there a moment, his hand having already been resting on the door. He let out a little sigh and let his hand fall to his side, his opposite hand pulling out his small notebook.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Sebastian said, then he rolled his eyes a little in frustration. This doctor, while finally calming down about not having to go and see the bodies of his colleagues, was still standing with a rather immature posture. “Other than the fact that I’ve been told many times that it looks like a slaughterhouse in there, I have no idea what happened and I’d rather get this over with quickly.”

Doctor Jimenez seemed to be in agreement. “Of course, I want this too,” he said, “It’s horrid what happened to them, the monster that killed them must be caught quickly.” The man was glancing at the door, and he shook his head. “I do not know much. I can tell you all that I do know and I hope that will suffice.”

Sebastian nodded, but Joseph took a step forward, commanding the attention of Doctor Jimenez. “If you could lead us to this Leslie, that would be much appreciated,” he interjected, which caused the doctor to jump back in a startled manner. “After you tell us all of this information, of course.” He then backed to his place slightly behind Sebastian, pen at the ready to begin taking notes on the doctor’s testimony. Sebastian just stood there, arms crossing over his chest.

The doctor took a deep breath before speaking. "The doctors that were killed... They were the heads of the facility. The top doctors who dealt with our patronage and were in charge of all the happenings in the building." He looked down at his shoes a moment. "Doctor Merinet, Doctor Alphonse, and Doctor Freidrecht. They were such good people, it was so horrifying to see them murdered like that..."

Sebastian and Joseph passed glances to each other. The doctor grew quiet, standing there and staring at his shoes. The silence drew on until Sebastian finally turned to face the door. "Do you have any idea why someone would want to kill them?" he said. Doctor Jimenez gave an awkward nod.

"There are plenty of people who take issues with the methods of Beacon," he said, shrugging a little. "Unfortunately we have to take more unconventional methods, but our insane are far more drastic than most other cities." He took another breath, opening and closing his mouth, as if in debate to continue.

Sebastian just listened, hearing his uneven breaths and capturing what he could about the nervous doctor.

"Our patron, Mister Victoriano, might also be a person to look into."

Joseph wrote down the name, but with hesitation. "The Victoriano? As in Ruben Victoriano?" he said, pen scratching paper. Sebastian saw he was underlining the aristocrat's name multiple times. "I wasn't aware he was even a patron of the hospital." The doctor seemed a little hesitant to keep speaking, but then seemed to have a look of resignation as though he understood that there was nothing worth hiding.

“He has been supporting us for years. Since the young man gained the fortune of the Victoriano’s, he chose to stop funding many of the things that his father had, and offered us and various other hospitals money in order to continue and further our treatments. We usually get small donations but Mr. Victoriano has always had an interest in the aiding of the mentally ill. He’s a worthwhile patron and he will be sorely upset to know that these doctor’s were murdered.”

Joseph was nodding, writing down some notes underneath Ruben’s name. Sebastian was getting bored of these explanations, wanting to get into the hospital to see the damage. He figured he could point out the killer quickly, then go and get a few drinks to relax and celebrate before solving more cases. This one didn’t sound too tough, though he could tell that Joseph was intimidated by the idea of a gruesome murder.

“We’re going to go inside and take a look,” Sebastian said. He turned his attention over to Juli, who looked over as though there was a sense between them. He motioned her over with his chin, and she walked over after giving a few words to the doctors she was speaking to. When she arrived, Sebastian gestured to the doctor. “Will you take him to this patient you're speaking of? He doesn’t want to see the crime scene again.” Juli gave a nod, giving Doctor Jimenez a gentle pat on his arm before Sebastian finally opened the door. Juli and the doctor went in quickly, Juli acting as a sort of shield to the man as they went inside.

The smell that came from the open door caused Sebastian's stomach to flip a moment. It wasn't difficult for him to calm it down, but he could see that Joseph looked a little disturbed. "That smell..." the boy mumbled. They exchanged glances, knowing simply from the smell that came from the lobby was enough to confirm that the slaughterhouse comparison wasn't an exaggeration. Sebastian shook off his disgust long before Joseph did, but he waited for the younger man to walk in first, so as not to rush him.

The lobby was a mess. There were more bodies lying around than the three that Sebastian was told. A total massacre, bodies lying everywhere. Sebastian felt sick at the sight of it. The people were gutted, and the stench was absolutely foul. Blood stained all the walls, a few piles of bodies here and there. Why the hell did they play it down? "Disgusting," he grumbled, his hand tapping his flask. He wanted a drink, it burned at his throat, but he figured it would make him ill to look at all the bodies and consume anything.

"Yeah, like there's nothing left..." Joseph agreed. He passed by Sebastian, who jumped back in surprise. He blinked a few times to make sure he was sure of what he saw. As Joseph passed, and he closed his eyes, all of the gore and bodies disappeared. Gone without a trace. The smell was still overwhelming, but it was far less compared to what Sebastian originally caught a whiff of. In the middle of the lobby, roped off, were only three bodies. The mounds of dead were gone. They had never existed, but Sebastian was uncertain. He had never imagined such violence before.

The bodies all lied there, and one thing remained correct; the bodies looked as though they had been torn apart. Cut open, limbs in wrong places, all scattered in funny angles. It was disgusting, and Sebastian turned away to look at the area around them. There were initial blood spots, easy to see exactly where first blood was spilled. A few semi-footprints. Only a section of shoe, but not clear enough. They didn't go to anywhere, just cut off. The killer likely changed shoes, as a nearby bench was within the line of police tape.

"What do you make of this?" Joseph's voice caused Sebastian to once again flinch into reality. "The others said they have no trace of any fingerprints or anything. The show isn't clear, there's nothing."

Sebastian ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "Did they pick up any items?" he asked.

Joseph gave a little nod. "They said that a scalpel was found, covered in the blood of the doctors. And all the bodies are wrapped up in barbed wire."

It was true. When Sebastian approached the bodies, he could clearly see the barbed wire tearing into the flesh that remained. Around one doctor's severed head, it was pressed so tight into the mouth the wire was ripping the mouth and cheeks. "Sick bastard."

The two began to look around, searching for some kind of clue that the other police missed. Sebastian inquired about the security of the building, if anything had been broken into. Currently there were no signs of a break in, and the video tape only reveals that the killer came from inside.

"Video tape?" Sebastian clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me about the tape sooner?"

The few police who stood before him looked nervous. "That's what's odd sir," one said. "It's not... It was tampered with when we arrived. The killer must've messed with it when he went to killing."

They brought Sebastian to a little room behind the front desk, a small filing room that held the main security feed. One of the policemen changed the footage to the time of murder - Sebastian knew now it happened very early in the morning, not much after 2 a.m. The footage showed the three doctors standing in the lobby, looking as though they had just arrived. All talking, and one was stooped over a bench and looking through his suitcase.

"We checked the case," a policeman said. "Nothing special. It was just announcements for the week, all the staff have copies."

In the footage, the door leading into the ward began to open. No figure was visible, but as it opened, the video suddenly blacked out. No sound. No visual. Just blank.

"It stays like this for an hour."

Scrolling by, the video comes back on and by that point the doctors are all dead, and a nurse is panicking on screen and calling the police. Sebastian frowned, shaking his head. "How did the bastard get in here and shut off the cameras?"

"That's what we don't know. There's no movement on any screen before that to show that someone had been through."

Sebastian walked out of the room, back to the crime scene. Joseph was now talking to more witnesses, taking notes on their testimonies. Sighing, he decided to leave Joseph to it as he went to the medical doors. Inside, he saw Juli waiting and joined her.

"There you are," she said, and she shook her head. "Leslie is a little shaken up, and he's not good at speaking. If you still want to meet him, it might not do any good."

He gave her a look of recognition and followed as she led him down one of the halls. The room that Leslie was placed came up quickly, and Doctor Jimenez was inside, leaning against a wall and covering his face. He looked up to the sound of the door opening, a look of relief on his face. "Detective Kidman," he said. He faltered at seeing Sebastian. "... And Detective Castellanos, welcome. Please be careful with my patient. He's been upset since the murder."

"Upset... Upset.... Upset..."

Sebastian's first thoughts about Leslie Withers revolved around how innocent the young man looked. There was a bed and a chair that the boy could be sitting in, but instead he sat in the corner on the floor, curled up with his hands on his head. His tousled, pale hair was in his eyes, but Sebastian could spot the tears staining his cheeks like they were neon signs.

He and Juli approached Leslie, who looked up a moment. He stared right at Sebastian, and began to shake. He fisted his pale hair and shook his head. "Sebastian. Sebastian. Sebastian."

"Y-Yes..." Sebastian crouched beside him. "... How do you know my name?" He reached a little, but pulled his hand back when Leslie shrunk away.

"Leslie is a very harmless patient," Doctor Jimenez said. "He's lived in mental hospitals most of his life, and he sometimes gets sneaky. The boy found a way out of his room and had walked into the lobby and saw the murders. One of the nurses found him crying in a closet and crying bloody murder."

Juli had worry on her face. "Leslie... can you tell us what happened?"

The boy rocked back and forth where he sat, head continuing to shake. "Alphonse... Alphonse..."

Sebastian recognized one of the doctor's names. "Leslie, do you know who did this?"

"Who did... Who did this... Who did this...."

Sebastian could sense the pressure that Leslie was under, and gently touched Juli's arm. She gave a nod, and they stood. "I don't think we're going to get much from him..."

Doctor Jimenez looked disappointed. Everything about the man bothered Sebastian, and he didn't like it. "I will report anything he might tell," the doctor said. Juli gave him thanks, but Sebastian had already begun to make his way to the lobby. When he opened the door, Joseph bumped into him, stepping back quickly.

"Oh, Sebastian," Joseph looked flustered, obviously embarrassed to have run into Sebastian. "I was just coming to get you. I-I have a list of names. Some of the staff seem to have ideas of patients, doctors, and various others who might be worth looking into." He held up his notebook, then quickly tore out a sheet. "I split the list in half. For you and for me. Kidman is going to deal more with the staff, we get everyone else."

Sebastian looked at the bodies lying on the ground. He felt his stomach knot again, but not from disgust. It was almost from anticipation; rarely cases were this interesting. Normally there's a murder and the killer is sloppy. This one was more practiced, and vanished with no clear traces.

"... Okay."

Sebastian took the list, scanning over it. His eyes settled on the name just near the bottom: Ruben Victoriano. The name caused him to shiver slightly. The history of the family was vague, and there was obviously something special if the Victorianos were funding the hospital without anyone making a scene of it.

"Hopefully we find the killer before they do anymore damage," Joseph said. He put his notebook in his vest pocket. "I'm going to look around more."

Sebastian folded the paper and put it in his own pocket.

".... Okay."


	2. If the Gates Swing Open

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The list of suspects is dwindling, and Sebastian decides to take a shot at contacting the Victoriano residence. Needless to say, things don't necessarily go as he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for people who liked this, and the more feedback I can get the more I can try to write this. I like knowing that people are actually wanting more, so thanks to those who liked or commented or bookmarked it or whatever. It's gonna go for a little while so I hope that you can bear with me!
> 
> This chapter is a little short, but I needed it to be. Sorry for short chapters.

It had been just under a month since the murders had been reported. Sebastian had begun losing hope, scratching name after name off of the list. There were a few names that he didn’t scratch off, but he wrote unlikely beside them. Many of the people were just average people, with so many alibis that could be proved with receipts and official testimonies. A few, Sebastian found, were mentioned because the doctors they were questioning had been nervous and threw the names out of random people. Many of the doctors who had left Beacon and were mentioned, Sebastian found that they all had better jobs at other institutions. They were paid more, had decent lives, and they never found anything that the deceased doctors had said or done to be unpleasant. There was no further evidence from the hospital beyond a few blood spots from the killer’s dripping shoes, but they always led to nowhere. They were in random parts of the hospital, and nothing was discarded in those areas that could leave a clue.

Sebastian felt like a drink would help him relax as he looked at the tiny list of evidence. Pictures scattered his desk of the crime scene, and of the scalpel. There were a few documents from around the area of the murder that came into his possession, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Juli had looked into all the events and found everything to be in the light. She had spent more time with Leslie, who remained estranged and unable to communicate.

A name that wasn’t on his list was Doctor Jimenez, the one man who stuck clearly in his mind. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy to actually kill those men, but Sebastian did not like the way he was handling the situation. Many of the other doctors and nurses seemed genuine with their discomfort; Jimenez seemed eager to get out of Sebastian’s gaze and slink off somewhere. Sebastian could only think the word “rat” when he thought of that man. Juli was in charge of interrogating people within Beacon, and while Sebastian made it very clear to her that he didn’t trust the doctor, he would be determined to get her blessing to speak to the man himself.

There were only a handful of names left on Sebastian’s list. His dark eyes scanned over it, and he reached down for his flask out of habit. He wanted a drink, and he took a quick slug, and instantly felt much better. He held the flask in one hand, and the list in the other, debating which to speak to next. He had been originally going down the list, just as he suspected that Joseph was. But his eyes settled on the name that Joseph had since underlined and starred for his sake: Ruben Victoriano.

“Why the hell is a guy like that funding a place like Beacon?” he muttered to himself. He stood up and went to a room holding all the files of Krimson City. The head of the place found the information on Victoriano easily. It had little information, save for a case about a fire and the murder of two members of the family.

“By looks of it, the current resident is the only surviving member of the family,” the head of the filing office said. “There should be a number to call somewhere in there. Try to schedule a meeting.”

The number was indeed there, but Sebastian thought the idea of calling ahead wasn’t really his style. “Call them? I can’t just show up with the proper papers to ask a few questions?”

“Oh, Sebastian, you’ve obviously never dealt with rich people. Schedule ahead or you can kiss a questioning period goodbye.”

As Sebastian was on his way to his office, he ran into Joseph, who was scribbling in his notebook a few notes. “How’s your list going?” Sebastian asked, slowing down. The young man looked up in attention at him, giving him a little nod of recognition before going back to his notebook. He could see so many names scribbled out on the paper, Sebastian felt a little bad for Joseph. In his time of investigating, he was used to disappointment, especially from Krimson City. Joseph was still new, still pretty fresh, and the disappoint would be far more haunting to him than it would to his elder.

“Nothing,” Joseph sighed, closing his notebook. “They’re all clean. I don’t get it, we’re missing something important and I can’t figure out what it is.” He crossed his arms over his chest, lowering his head. The young man was so passionate, Sebastian just shook his head.

“I’m going to try meeting with Mr. Victoriano,” he ended up telling Joseph. Joseph looked up, surprised, a little look of hope in his eyes. Sebastian suspected that his partner was curious to know more about the rich boy, considering he was the main isolated person of Krimson City, who rarely dealt with the affairs of others. Both of them found it curious that he would be supporting Beacon, and it seemed that Joseph was as eager as Sebastian to find out more.

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Sebastian said, tucking the files under his arm. “We might not get anything out of him. The privileged often feel like they don’t have to help us common folk.” Joseph gave him a small nod, then Sebastian went to his office. He sat down at his desk, setting the files in front of him. He took a quick read of them all. Unfortunately the files were all vague. It looked as though there was a fire set to the family barn, and that the two heads of the household had been murdered in their sleep. But there were hardly any names, any evidence, nothing noteworthy in the slightest.

Eventually he pulled the paper with the number of the Victoriano residence from the pile of papers and dragged his phone across the table. He sat there, finger poised to dial, and thought for a moment if he could ask someone else in the offices to make the call. He knew Joseph probably would do it for him, but he wasn’t sure if he trusted his partner to say the right things. Sometimes the boy was too eager, too reckless, and Sebastian was always dragging him out of trouble or punishments.

Finally, he dialed the number, and he waited. It seemed like forever, just sitting there and listening to the rings. His fingers tapped on the desk, and as the rings began to reach an end, Sebastian pulled the phone away from his ear to put it back down on the receiver. Just as he did, the ringing stopped abruptly, and Sebastian froze, hearing a faint sound.

The detective quickly brought the phone back to his ear. He heard the rugged, quiet voice again, not much louder beside his ear as it was away from it.

“Hello?”

Sebastian felt a tug of nervousness in his stomach. He rarely ever made calls, never really had to. This was one of the richest people in Krimson City, and he was just a beat up detective trying to solve a case. There was only one thing running through his mind, the most difficult thing not to spew into the phone at that moment: this is fucking ridiculous.

“Is this, uh… Is this the Victoriano Residence?” he asked instead.

“It is,” the voice simply said. It was so quiet, Sebastian could hardly understand what was being said. He was expecting a little more, but the conversation quickly fell silent, and Sebastian was grasping for something to say.

“My name is Sebastian Castellanos, I’m a detective at the Krimson City Police Departme-”

“No need, Castellanos. I’m aware of who you are.”

Sebastian felt a little cold at that statement. He wasn’t that well-known. People who were criminals knew who he was, anyone heavily involved with the KCPD knew who he was, but not many people were aware of his existence otherwise, let alone someone like Victoriano. He swallowed the discomfort and was about to speak when the man on the other end spoke again.

“Is this a call regarding the case at Beacon Mental Hospital?”

“... Yes, it is. I wanted to meet with you and ask you some questions.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

Sebastian sat up in his seat, sensing a bit of hostility from the other man. It wasn’t clear in his words, but there was a touch of coldness in his voice that caused discomfort. He shifted a little in his seat, and he could have sworn he heard a small chuckle from the phone.

“I simply want to ask questions to anyone who might be involved in what happened,” Sebastian said. His tone was rough, and he felt a little defiant. People like him rarely spoke against people like a Victoriano, on the phone or in person. He felt a little proud that he did, even though he knew it was stupid to even think for a moment that he should be proud over it.

“Do you know what a mantra is, Detective Castellanos?”

This caught the detective off-guard. The man on the other end seemed very calm, intense, and knew exactly what he was doing and what he was saying. It was as though he was trying to throw off Sebastian, which was something he didn’t like. “I am familiar with them, yes.”

“A repeated phrase or idea that is meant to create some kind of supernatural meaning to the person speaking it,” the voice said. The man almost sounded amused, which caused Sebastian’s grip to tighten on the phone in annoyance. Who did this man think he was? “Is this what you plan on getting out of me, Seb? Some kind of meaning of significant value?”

“I just want to ask a few questions,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “Are you able to give me these answers or not?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment. For once it wasn’t Sebastian who fell silent in thought or wonder. He felt upset. He hated phone calls, especially when he can only suspect what the person on the other end is likely doing. The man was probably trying not to laugh at who he thought was some lowlife detective. What a selfish prick.

“I shall call when I am able to get my schedule to open up,” the man finally answered. “I am a busy man. Don’t expect an answer anytime soon.” And before Sebastian could even open his mouth, the dial tone came through the phone. He set down the phone, letting out a deep sigh as he rubbed his temples. People like that always got on his nerves, and he hated the feeling of disrespect he was feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t notice as Joseph opened the door, knocking a little bit as he stepped in.

“Sebastian,” he said. The detective looked up, and Joseph had a brief look of worry on his face before it blanked out again. “Is something wrong? Did you call?”

“Yeah, and the guy is an asshole,” Sebastian answered, standing up and picking up a few papers. “I can’t get a time with the guy until he decides when it’s convenient for him. Which is probably the worst excuse I have ever heard. I might just head down there anyway.”

Joseph nodded in understanding, but he said nothing. He leaned back on the door frame, watching Sebastian organize his things as he stood there in thought. There were many times like this in their partnership: just silence. Sebastian shoved a few things in his desk, sighing again when he realized that he would have to take a few things out and put it in different places. He usually kept many files he took from the database, something he was always getting in trouble for, but right now he didn’t really care.

“Well, do you want to come with me?” Joseph finally asked. Sebastian looked up, raising a brow. He felt a need for a drink coming on again, but he resisted the urge. He got the feeling that Joseph could sense it, too.

“I’m going to talk to another person on my list. I’ll do most of the work, but do you want to come?”

**The two ended up walking out, Sebastian pulling on his coat, his hand patting his flask as he attempted to resist the urge to drink all through the questioning. If only it were easier.**


	3. A Sound As Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case is growing cold, and no responses have come in to Sebastian and his partners about the mysterious Victoriano Resident. Things begin to slow down, until a letter comes into the mail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah my posting is gonna slow way down now. I'm lazy, sorry. And yeah, another short chapter. I don't write long ones that often... Oops.

The evening light poured into the offices as many of the day shift cops were leaving, the night shift beginning to arrive. There’s plenty of tension a few sets of offices, but the leader of the tension was Sebastian. His office was scattered with papers, notes, and any little thing they had built up on the case. Juli had spoken to all of the staff, and presented him with a stack of notes on their testimonies and alibis. He was flitting through paper after paper, to the point where he was no longer setting them aside, just tossing them in the air in frustration as he went from page to page.

¨This is ridiculous,¨ he growled to himself. He left the door open, but only halfway. His peers, passing by, were glancing with worry into the office every so often. Whenever he would close the door, someone would find an excuse to quickly come and go, leaving the door open a crack. It wasn’t because it was an amusing scene to watch, but because Joseph had begun to express worry about Sebastian’s stress levels. It was rare for them to find as difficult a case as this, and when they had them, Sebastian would rarely go home from the office, and be found without a few days of sleep in his office, barely able to function as he tried to search on. People were keeping an eye on Sebastian upon request, something he didn’t like but had to submit to it.

“Sebastian,” a voice called from the door.

He was surprised to see Juli enter the room, having thought she had left at this point. Not long ago he had been in an argument with Joseph before the boy decided to leave, and now Juli was in his office and leaning on his desk, looking down at all the evidence. “This is a crazy thing, huh?” she said, letting out a sigh. It hit Sebastian just how much this case was effecting her. He felt embarrassed at the way he reacted to Joseph now, too, as the case likely took a toll on both of them. “We’ve never had anyone so good at covering up their tracks.”

Sebastian and Juli met gazes, silence falling between them. After a moment, Sebastian let out a sigh and let the papers fall from his hands. “You’re probably here to tell me to go home or some shit,” he grumbled.

“Sebastian, this isn’t good for you,” Juli said. She was standing up straight now, arms crossed over her chest. “You need to get home and rest. Let Joseph and I handle this. You need a break. You’ve been working nonstop since Myra-”

Thankfully she stopped herself, but not before Sebastian stood up and slammed his hands down on the desk. Much of the sound outside the office stopped. Everyone was anticipating Sebastian’s words, his actions, and even he himself was debating what to say. Myra was a place that he dared not go. It was why he moved, very drastically from the neighborhood that they had so loved. But as he took deep breaths and ran a hand through his hair, he looked up at her and shook his head.

“We’re not going to talk about Myra.”

Her response was a simple nod, and it was quick. Sebastian sat again, head in his hands as he rubbed his temples, a heavy sigh escaping him. “I’m sorry, Sebastian,” Juli said, taking a step back. “I didn’t mean it like that…” She let Sebastian take a few minutes to calm down before speaking again. “This isn’t healthy for you. You’re back in the game, back to your old self, mostly… but you’re overworking yourself. You have to stop, let others handle it.”

“I’m fine,” Sebastian responded. He took a deep breath, and looked around his office. He saw the papers scattered around, the documents he was discarding with such force they ended up across the room. He saw a distinct lack of care; while he wasn’t the neatest person, it was far better in its normal form than the current state. He felt like everything was much heavier, even holding up his head was difficult. Looking back to Juli, he saw the same disappointment on her face as he saw on Joseph’s earlier that day.

“... Fine.”

The two walked out of the office together, and their coworkers were hasty in returning to their business. Sebastian ignored the glances he was getting as he walked with Juli. He always got those glances, especially when people heard that Myra was involved on the conversation. He shook his head, hands going into his pockets.

“Don’t come in tomorrow,” Juli said as they stepped outside. “You need a break. Joseph said you were supposed to have one the day of this case. Since then you’ve avoided nearly eight days off for yourself. I’m taking your portion of the case for tomorrow, and you can have it back when you come in the next day.”

Sebastian was too tired to argue. He just grunted, beginning to walk down the street towards home. The exhaustion from sleepless nights was kicking in, and when he returned to his small home, he barely made it to the sofa as he fell asleep.

***

It was impossible for Sebastian to stay home long. He was out and about before noon, and he took a stop in the police department to see how things were going. Juli and Joseph both expressed anger about this, but quickly fell silent when Sebastian showed a lack of interest in working on the big case. His reasoning was that he was too tired to work on it, plus he felt as though it was going nowhere, so they allowed him a few simple cases to look at, which he breezed through easy that day.

Joseph had taken him to question the last person on his list, but the man wasn’t anything interesting. In fact, he had recently come back to Krimson City from a vacation, which had been for six months, which was within the time of the murder. The two had returned to the depo disappointed.

Nearing the end of the day, Sebastian had an overwhelming urge to drink. He thought about asking some of his coworkers to join him, but he knew that Joseph would show disapproval and even lecture him on consumption, so he went alone. When he got to one of the bars, however, the feeling had faded. He stood there for some time, watching people drink and laugh and talk before deciding to leave there and head home. His head was aching by that point; his body was resistant and lacked desire for a drink, but his mind was still craving it. While the body won out, his mind was still screaming.

The mail was filled with nothing noteworthy as he began to flip through it. His personal mail was very lacking; mostly just random things that meant nothing to him. Envelope through envelope, all were dull, useless and pointless. They each entered the garbage with no satisfaction. Finally one sat in his hands, and he felt cold as he stood there, holding the last envelope. It was a letter, the envelope old and pathetic. The handwriting was very purposely written, beautiful and dark and intricate.

Sebastian went into his home, sitting down on the sofa as he tore open the letter. The paper he produced from its confines was old and yellowed, the lettering on the paper just as beautiful as the envelope’s. He knew it to be from the Victoriano Manor instantly.

“Detective Castellanos,” Sebastian read, low and quiet, “My apologies for responding so late. I called your office a few times and got no responses, so I took it upon myself to send you this letter. An identical letter has been sent to your workplace. I thought it wise to send one to a personal address, as I don’t like prying eyes, and I am aware that the police have only prying eyes. No doubt they will see the other letter, and you will show your partners the letter, but all the same, I like to have a degree of privacy.

“As for meeting you, I am available any time in the next week after 7 pm. Most of my mornings and afternoons are filled with daily scheduling, but I find my evenings open for the next month. Please just call ahead and let me know which day you will arrive next week so I can plan accordingly. I will make sure to hire someone good to make you a dinner, as a thank you for your patience and dedication to this case. Being very involved with Beacon Mental Hospital, your business is good for them and, as a result, good for my personal affairs as well. Lastly, please don’t bring any of your partners with you. I had the off-chance of seeing that Joseph Oda not long ago, though I don’t think he recognized me, when he went with Miss Kidman to the hospital. I wasn’t that happy with his attitude and I prefer yours over his.”

Sebastian smiled a little at the comment about Joseph. It seemed that the man wasn’t too fond of people like Joseph. “From the desk of Ruvik.” He frowned, raising a brow. It was a strange way to refer to oneself, but Sebastian could easily see how Ruvik derived from Ruben Victoriano.

Since “Ruvik” was already aware of how Sebastian was going to inform Joseph and Juli about his meeting, he went to his phone and called them instantly. They didn’t answer their office phones, but Joseph picked up barely through the first ring of his personal phone.

“Is something wrong, Sebastian?” Joseph asked after initial introductions.

“I received a letter from Victoriano,” Sebastian answered. He was holding it in his hand, looking at it and sighing as he read it over again. “Looks like I have a chance to meet with Krimson City’s aristocrat.” He related the contents of the letter to Joseph, who listened in pure silence.

“I’m going with you,” Joseph said just after Sebastian finished. Something that Sebastian was expecting, though the letter was specific in Ruvik’s desire to remain private. “I don’t like that he wants you to go alone. I don’t trust that man, and I don’t care what you say. I’m going with.”

“If you come with, he will reject us and we won’t get any info from him. If you want me to be able to question him you won’t come. Understand?” Sebastian was a little amused by Joseph’s hesitance and anger towards the situation. Often times, in a situation like this, Sebastian would be resistant to the idea of being without his partner when going to speak with someone of Ruvik’s calibur. But he felt at ease, knowing that there was a financial loss to Ruvik for the deaths of the doctors.

“But Sebastian--”

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. “Joseph, you aren’t going. That’s final. Now let me hang up so I can call the damn place.”

“Sebastian, this isn’t a good ide--”

“We have no other options, Joseph. If we want answers, I’ll have to go alone. I’ll tell you about it when I return from the questioning.”

**He hung up.**


	4. Hell Has a Place For You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to make I was busy and I had to make sure Rubles was perfect. I think I did a good job on him. Let me know what you're thinking so far. And if there are any issues with it, sorry, the computers I'm using are really weird right now so some stuff might be like ¨what am I looking at ¨.

The paths through the trees were rough and unpredictable. Twice now Sebastian had fallen, his shoe caught on a root or an unbalanced rock sliding under his weight. The person he had been chasing wasn’t having much better luck; he had been falling quite a bit as well. Sebastian was up on his feet, nearly caught up to the man, when he collapsed again, sliding through mud. Shouting a curse, he pulled out his gun, looking up to see the man was managing to stay on his feet, drawing farther and farther away. In a scramble to get up and continue to give chase, Sebastian continued to slip in the mud.

¨Oh fuck this.”

He pulled out his gun, taking as quick an aim as he could. He didn’t have much time for hesitation, and he sent out a couple of bullets. In a matter of seconds, he heard a rather satisfying scream as the man got hit. He began to stand, seeing that the man was lying on the ground some ways ahead and holding his leg in pain, screaming and cursing. Sebastian took his time in approaching, wiping off as much of the mud as he could.

“You little bastard…” he said, breathing heavily as he finally got to the man. He was just a boring nobody, a petty thief, and he didn’t seem that important of a person as Sebastian dragged the man to his feet and helped him as they limped to the police car. Of course, Sebastian had handcuffed the man and made sure his gun was still obvious; the man seemed to have given up and wasn’t interested in escaping on his injured leg, anyway.

The vehicle he came with was thankfully a police car. He put the man in the back, though he did remove the bullet and even bandage the man, and locked him in the back. He let out some breaths, leaning on the car, and ran a hand through his hair. “Dammit…”

He looked up at the manor, bleak through the trees and the large gates. He could see the resident standing at a window, watching him. That man was probably always aware of what Sebastian was doing, it was something he could just feel when he arrived there.

“You ruined my chances at solving this case,” he said to the thief, but the car door was closed and pointless, so it was more to himself. “Thanks a lot. Asshole.”

 

***

 

Earlier in the evening, Sebastian stood at the gates of the Victoriano manor, looking around to see if there was some way of getting his attention. A doorbell, a buzzer, something? There wasn’t anything special around there, and he just shook his head as he went to the center of the gate to inspect. To his surprise, the gate itself wasn’t even locked. It didn’t even have a capability to lock, or be guaranteed shut. Pushing open the gate, he walked down through the front gardens. They were bleak, though they looked properly tended to. The grand doors that were the entrance to the Victoriano Manor looked intimidating, something that Sebastian wasn’t happy to be feeling in his stomach.

His steps seemed to echo in the entryway as he climbed the few stone steps to the door. There were large handles on the door, and after some inspection, Sebastian found they were the only way to announce his arrival. Taking one up, he slammed the handle down onto the door, hearing it ring out within the house, and throughout the entirety of the lawn.

He couldn’t hear anything coming from within the Manor. Sebastian waited out there for several minutes, beginning to feel frustrated, and he found himself pacing and letting out slow breaths. It wasn’t often that he felt impatient, but the idea of meeting the Krimson City recluse was unnerving to him as he waited. After many long minutes after his pacing had ended, the door finally opened.

A young man stood there, and he caught Sebastian off-guard. Bandages were wrapped all around his head and face, two golden eyes staring with boredom. His nose was thin, long, pointed, Sebastian thought of a hawk for a moment before deciding that didn’t suit this man. His neck and hands were bandaged as well, and he wore a simple white dress shirt, dark dress pants, a thick belt and dress shoes that were generic but sophisticated. His mouth was in a thin line, almost forced. He looked Sebastian over a little, holding the door as a hand rested in his pocket.

“... Detective Castellanos.”

“Yes… Mr. Victoria-”

“Ruvik.”

Sebastian felt a little uncomfortable, standing there as Ruvik stood before him. They looked on at each other for a long time before Ruvik turned away and began to walk inside, wordless. Sebastian hesitated in following until he saw Ruvik turn and face him in the entryway, raising an eyebrow in expectation until Sebastian followed.

“Close the door when you come in,” Ruvik said, almost bored. “And if you’re worried that your shoes are dirty, please take them off. I’d rather not clean if I don’t have to.”

Sebastian raised a brow, closing the door to a rather grand, impressive entrance hall as he began to slip off his boots, which were a little muddy. He set them beside the doors, feeling awkward to be standing in just his socks. This definitely wasn’t something he was used to, and he began to feel embarrassed when Ruvik approached him, watched a moment, then took off his own shoes and set them beside Sebastian’s. “Less uncomfortable?”

The only response that was necessary was a simple headshake from the detective. Ruvik made a decisive humming noise before he turned and began to walk away, gesturing for Sebastian to follow him. They ascended a staircase, going to an office, where Ruvik pulled a chair over for Sebastian to take a seat. The detective was quick to sit, though Ruvik was taking his time as he rounded the desk. The silence of the room was discomforting, and Sebastian could feel its eerie presence throughout the whole of the manor. The idea of someone like Ruvik being so comfortable with it, finding that kind of emptiness home, it disturbed him as the man finally sat down across from him.

¨So, you’re here about the case at Beacon Mental Hospital,” Ruvik said. His tone was dull, and Sebastian could almost hear exhaustion, as though he had gone through many sleepless nights. ¨Thank you for taking a case like this, detective. When I heard about what happened, it was such a shock that I was beginning to worry how it would turn out.¨

That was something that Sebastian took note of. Though Ruvik was hard to get in contact with, it seemed that he was open about the case and eager to solve it, and he took into consideration that a financial loss was occurring as a result of the deaths of the doctors. But there were still questions to be asked; if Jimenez thought that Ruvik would be a person of interest to question, he was going to question this man.

“Why do you fund Beacon?”

That was his first question. From the files, he only understood that Ruvik funded the facility, and he had a few ideas that would make sense. But hearing it from the man himself was more important than whatever Sebastian could fathom.

“I am interested in the human mind,” Ruvik said. He shifted in his seat, leaning against the desk with most of his weight. His graying gold eyes were settled on Sebastian, the faintest of smiles curled on his lips. “I have always found a fascination with humans and the way they function. Humans with mental illnesses are even more interesting to me. I like to know more about them. Beacon lets me understand how the brain functions.”

His openness to his curiosity to the brain caused Sebastian to shift a little in his seat. There he sat, in the office of the well-known recluse, beginning questioning while he wore only socks on his feet. Already this questioning was not going the way he had planned, and he could tell that Ruvik knew he was twisting Sebastian’s expectations and destroying them to his will. He knew this wasn’t going to at all the way he wanted.

“So the night of the murder-”

“Yes, I was here at home,” Ruvik said, resting his chin on his fist as he leaned on the desk. “Normally I spend my days alone, but that week I had a maid in to do some cleaning for me. She’s a very good cook, and I could always call her so that you can get her testimony as well, if you’d like.” He began to sit up, causing Sebastian to sit back a little as well. Ruvik’s golden eyes never once left Sebastian during this time.

“So you’ve been a detective at the KCPD for some time now, hmm?” Ruvik asked, and Sebastian saw a fleeting smile on his face. It was gone now, though the faint smirk remained, causing the detective to feel frustration.

“I have,” he said, arms crossing over his chest. “But that’s not what’s important. I’m going to be the one asking questions. What were your relationships with these doctors?”

“Ah, they were all so brutish.” Ruvik’s eyes flashed with a danger that put Sebastian on edge. “Barbaric people, they were. I remember how often we argued. I would request things and they would ignore me without a worry. I was always able to communicate my needs through Doctor Jimenez - I take it you’ve met him, your eyes reacted appropriately.”

That was something Sebastian didn’t like. But Ruvik seemed to be enjoying this, as he waved off the agitated hints Sebastian was attempting to send to him. “Yes, I didn’t get along with them, admittedly, but their work in the hospital was amazing. I couldn’t imagine even speaking to the actual owners and firing them. That would’ve been bad for business. No offense, but many of the doctors under them, even a little bit for my dear Marcelo, were a little… subpar.”

There was a tension in the air that was building up. Sebastian wasn’t liking the way this was turning out at all, and it felt as though Ruvik was just feeding off of his anger. He was sitting there, still horribly conscious of his lack of shoes, and now this man was taking up the questions he was asking to turn them around on him. This stupid aristocrat had taken his time to answer the door and seemed to make a personal goal of confusing and frustrating the detective at every possible moment, and keeping himself calm was proving difficult for Sebastian to do.

“There were items found at the crime scene,” Sebastian said through clenched teeth. “The only items of interest were the barbed wire that the victims were wrapped in and a lone scalpel. The scalpel seemed to be the thing to do the job, and it didn’t look like a typical one. Do you have any knowledge of where this could have come from?”

Another flash in Ruvik’s eyes nearly set off Sebastian. He could tell the man was hiding something, but the idea of Ruvik killing doctors that benefited Ruvik’s needs seemed backwards in his mind. But the mention of the scalpel caused an alertness in Ruvik that was interesting.

“I was actually meaning to talk to you about that, detective,” Ruvik said, nodding to himself. He stood up, rounding the desk to the door. “Would you come with me to the library? I have something I would like you to see.”

Sebastian stood, and he felt discomfort as he followed Ruvik out of the room and down the grand halls of the manor. Most everything was elegant and nice on the eyes, but it all looked untouched, and inappropriate for a person like Ruvik to have in his household. He didn’t get much of a time to admire, for whenever he slowed Ruvik would make a little impatient noise to catch his attention.

They came to a large library of multiple floors. The space itself wasn’t very wide, but it was certainly tall. The amount of books was impressive, it looked like a small library. Ruvik ignored all the beauty of the room, doubtless he read every last book in its inventory. He went to a wall, pulling open a door that matched the wood, and to a little display case. “I rather enjoy the medical items that are used in surgery and testing,” he said. “Recently I bought a set that was so beautiful. It had been used in the old lobotomy experiments before they decided it was an inhumane way to work.”

There were dozens of old items in there, and Sebastian felt a little sick at the sight of crude medical items. Many of them he imagined in a horror setting, one of unreal situations. They would be experiments performed in basements, and the screams would rise through the floor. The thought caused Sebastian’s stomach to twist.

“I don’t use these tools,” Ruvik said, sensing his discomfort. “I have an issue regarding these tools. I got information on the scalpel you recovered, and I do believe it is one of mine from this set. I was stolen from a few weeks before the murders, though none of the KCPD answered my call.”

Sebastian vaguely remembered some of the police talking about some rich kid who had been robbed from, and he shook it off, letting out a sigh. “Was there anything else stolen?”

“Yes, it’s twin. Both were stolen. I also had a window broken, and a few paintings taken, along with some valuable china that I keep in the dining room.” He stepped forward, his eyes locking with Sebastian. “The murder weapon is rightfully mine and I am very disappointed that someone saw it fit to break into my home, detective. I was hoping that my call would have been answered by someone like you, but I guess the drink was a little too busy to let you go, now wasn’t it?”

“Wha-”

A crash came from the downstairs, and Sebastian, confused by the man’s words, turned and put a hand on his gun. He saw Ruvik visibly flinch, backing up from the detective and quickly closing the doors to the display cabinet. “Dammit. It’s probably that stupid thief again! Doesn’t he see the goddamn police car outside my home? What an idiot!”

Sebastian went to the door, and he was about to leave to investigate when a hand touched his shoulder, pulling him back to look at Ruvik once more. “Detective Castellanos,” Ruvik said, voice calm and dark. “I will give you what information I can dig up. If you can catch that stupid thief I would appreciate it. He has been doing this for quite some time. I’ll happily be rid of him if you can catch the pest.”

Sebastian didn’t like the way that the aristocrat referred to the thief. While he agreed that many thieves were very petty and why a man would come all the way out here to steal from the loner of Krimson City showed a form of desperation that was almost pitiful, he felt that Ruvik must have felt this negativity to anyone unfortunate, anyone lesser than him in wealth. He hated working with people like this, and having to obey the commands that Ruvik gave him made him feel angry.

¨We’re not done talking about this,” he said. ¨I expect answers.¨

 

***

 

The stolen items were very basic as Sebastian waited at the door to the manor. He had made sure the thief was comfortable and that he couldn’t get out, and as he stood there, he realized that Ruvik wasn’t going to come out to meet him. He looked down at the stolen items, which were a few trinkets that Sebastian figured must be ¨upper class art” and a portrait of a young woman with dark hair and a beautiful smile. He frowned at it, confused as to why Ruvik would have a portrait of someone like this in his home. They didn’t look related, and Sebastian didn’t peg Ruvik as the romantic type.

Sebastian debated on leaving the items there on the doorstep, but based on Ruvik’s testimony about the thieves, he figured that would be an unwise decision to just leave it there and go on his way. Instead he brought them back to the car, setting them in the seat just beside his. He looked up to where Ruvik had been watching previously. He was no longer there.

¨You’re making life pretty tough for me,” Sebastian said to the thief in the back seat. ¨Making it more tough than you can realize.¨

He drove off in silence.


	5. Reflections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I've been so busy and I don't have time to write this that much. Another short chapter (lets just say all my chapters will be short but there will be 20 and a part 2 so don't complain). Let me know what you think of it okay? I felt really special at that person who said they checked every day. Thanks friend! Your support means a lot! And any feedback or ideas or anything you want ever is deeply appreciated.

“So the scalpel belongs to Victoriano?”

Joseph sat not far from Sebastian. Both sat at one of the tables out in the police depo common area, papers scattered about on it. Joseph’s nice handwriting with Sebastian’s jumbled scrawl scattered all the papers, many photographs of the gore and various blank suspects looking up at them.

“That’s what he said,” Sebastian answered, looking through some of the notes that he had written down. “And it’s not like he leaves very often. None of the staff remembers seeing him ever actually go to Beacon. They always sent doctor Jimenez there.” Juli’s stack of notes were off at the end of the table, neat and organized, though Sebastian was ready to tear into them and add to their clutter. “Where’s Juli anyway?”

“They dragged her onto another case,” Joseph answered. He was looking through some of the suspects who remained in question. “She’s still on this one, but she had to go take care of a few things before she’s coming to join us.” Joseph leaned on the table, looking over the top of his documents at Sebastian. “Did you get any information as to why Beacon is so important to Victoriano?”

“He pretty much views that place as his little play thing,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not too sure, he’s very vague. I want to meet with him again, get a clearer understanding of him. He’s suspicious, but why he would do it is so backwards.” Sebastian stood now, stretching. He felt relief as a loud cracking sound came from his back, which seemed to startle Joseph. “I’m going to make a call to meet him again. That fine by you?”

“Maybe I should go with you this time,” Joseph said, setting down his papers. He began to pull them together, reorganizing the mess that Sebastian made. “A second set of eyes and ears might be helpful. If he’s as mysterious as you claim him to be, it would be a better idea for me to come along.”

“If you recall his note,” Sebastian said, “He really doesn’t seem fond of the idea of multiple cops in his house. He’s pretty serious about his privacy, Joseph.” He understood his partner’s desire to join him to the manor, but someone like a Victoriano was not who you would want to provoke at any given time. “While we’re investigating, he’s still funding Beacon to keep pushing through this incident. We don’t want him to get offended and cut off his funds, that would be a mistake. Intimidation is not something we can use on a guy with his influence.”

Joseph began to look annoyed. “Well what am I supposed to do?” he asked. By now all of the papers were in very neat piles, and Joseph was stacking them all on top of each other in a particular order. Sebastian always thought that this level of obsessive organization might be an issue for Joseph. “I’m not going to just wait here and twiddle my thumbs at your beck and call.”

“Joseph that’s not what I-” Sebastian stopped, taking a deep breath and shaking his head. “Nevermind. I’m going to go call him and I will meet with him alone. I want you to keep looking at the suspects who are still in question. Joseph I’m counting on you to do this.”

Joseph dragged up the paper stacks, clutching them to his chest. He passed by Sebastian, giving him a slight glare. “Go and do all the work then, leave me the scraps like always,” he muttered. He was quick to disappear out of sight, leaving Sebastian with a bit of guilt in his chest. Yet he still felt justified, craving answers for the case. It was so rare to get such an exhilarating case, and he wanted to have control over it, to solve it, to be a hero. That was something he always nagged Joseph about, and though he tried to ignore the words, his own words, playing in his head, they rung clear - “don’t be a hero.”

He felt bitter as he went to his office, picking up the phone and dialing the number that he had scribbled down on a scrap of paper beside it. He waited, beside himself within the ringing of the phone, playing with the cord and tapping his foot. The way this suspect got him tense, he didn’t like it. That would have to change very soon, or Joseph might notice and begin to assume things. Either way…

Silence.

“... Victoriano Residence.”

***

The office isn’t much different from what Sebastian remembered, save for the fact that Ruvik seemed busy. The desk, which was mostly barren before, was now littered with papers and documents that caught Sebastian’s eye. Most of them had quick, uneven handwriting that Sebastian couldn’t find legible from where he sat. Ruvik was just across from him, hands folded neatly on his knee as he leaned back against his plush chair.

“So what further questions do you have for me?” Ruvik asked, his eyes once more boring into Sebastian’s skull.

“Your inheritance is a place we can start,” Sebastian answered. Once more, he was very conscious of his lack of shoes, and his socks, though dark, made him once again feel out of place in front of this man. “I don’t recall you having a job to continue to make this money. You fund a hospital with large sums but you don’t seem to be losing any. Rather you’re making more. How?”

“I invest.” Ruvik had a brief smile, and it seemed to be one that Ruvik knew would annoy Sebastian to no end. “I have a method that they haven’t really figured out. I donate to Beacon so that they continue to have success with aiding patients. More people fund it, more people pay to admit family and friends who need care; the money trickles back to me through some debt they owe. It continues to run this way, and it always will. Even after I am long gone, I hope to have someone placed here to continue my bounty.”

“You’re very open about it.”

“Because it’s legal, detective. I wouldn’t consider making my investments if I didn’t get anything out of it without dealing with legal authorities. That would be a mistake.”

Everything the man said hinted to something he knew that Sebastian obviously didn’t, and Sebastian gripped the arm of his chair to stop himself from speaking out of turn. “So you have no other professions?”

A dull look came to Ruvik’s face. It wasn’t his normal blank slate, rather one of mild disgust and distaste for the question. Now he was the one to shift in his seat, a small sigh leaving him as he sat and considered how to answer a question like that. “Well, to say, I don’t have an official profession,” Ruvik began. “As you know of my fascination with the human mind, I do find himself studying and creating forms of work. I… I was hoping to publish my findings at some point or another, even though doctor Jimenez says that I won’t make a name for myself.” His gaze grew cold. “I have no official education in the studies and he says that will damn me.”

As Ruvik spoke, Sebastian found that he was only half-listening. He found himself focused on those documents that lied all over the desk. He could pick out a few words among the mess, but nothing that was of any significance. It was amazing, all the things that Ruvik was working on. A few, he could see, were of deep involvement of Krimson City; there were a few things with what he instantly recognized was the mayor’s signature. A few had the Beacon Mental Hospital symbol on it in corners or on envelopes. Then there were sketches, drawings of human anatomy. One, though he couldn’t see it well, made him feel slightly disgusted by the man. It was of a man on a table being cut open. If that wasn’t a red flag to this case, he wasn’t sure what was.

“Detective, are you listening to me?”

Sebastian looked up, Ruvik sitting up stiff in his chair now. His eyes were narrowed, suspicious, his lips in a thin line of offense. Obviously focusing on the desk was a mistake, for the aristocrat seemed to know that Sebastian was looking for something.

“I can see my office is a little… distracting to you.” Ruvik stood, opening the door to leave. “I say we continue this talk in the lounge, shall we? I could use a stretch, I’ve been forced to stay at my desk all the long day.”

Sebastian nodded as he stood, taking one final glance at the documents before following Ruvik to the lounge. The broken window was fixed already, to his surprise. It hadn’t been that long, and he couldn’t imagine Ruvik being the type of man to actually call for a service; he probably waited until his weekly maid arrived to do the calling and payment and cleaning of the glass.

“Oh,” Sebastian remembered that he still had the painting in his bag, which sat comfortably against his hip. He produced it for Ruvik, who had been watching him since his small exclamation. “The thief from before took this. You weren’t answering your door, and I didn’t want anyone else to turn up and take it.”

The moment he pulled the painting from his bag, he saw Ruvik’s eyes light up and widen. He snatched it from Sebastian without hesitation, looking at it with tight set jaw. “Who is that woman, if you don’t mind me asking?” Sebastian said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ruvik placed the painting on a nearby table, adjusting it slightly as he did, seeming to be arranging it to a perfect position. He was quiet for a long time, to the point where Sebastian thought he wasn’t going to get an answer from the man. Eventually he spoke, and Ruvik’s rough voice became soft and gentle.

“Laura was my sister,” he whispered. “She was very dear to me. She took care of me, gave me the love our parents never could, and she… she was so good to me.” He stiffened, turning away from the painting. He met Sebastian’s eyes, holding his gaze as if by force. “I’m sure you looked at my documents. Did they talk about the Victoriano Massacre?”

Sebastian had never  heard of such an event, but it was obviously very personal to Ruvik. He remembered reading about how the man’s sister had died from a coma, and his parents murdered. Was that what he was referring to? “I think I have,” he said.

“Well, in case you weren’t aware,” Ruvik’s voice went from that soft, affectionate tone to his rough, dulled one. “When I was little, my parents bought some land for a farm. Not too far from here, a little village town where we used to live. The townsfolk were upset, thinking it was their land. My sister and I loved the land. We loved the sunflowers… We would always play in the barn. One night we snuck out to go play. I remember it so well, she was so wonderful…

“All I know is that the townsfolk came during the night and set the barn on fire. We were still playing.” He stopped, taking a seat on a rather expensive looking chair. “The place lit instantly. My sister managed to help me get out… but she was stuck in there. She went into a coma, and when someone got her out… a few months later she died in the hospital.”

He stood up again. Repeating the events of her death seemed to distress him, and he began to pace. “I was a recluse because my father was ashamed of… of my skin.”

Sebastian didn’t stop Ruvik from reaching up and removing the bandages around his face. He could see that Ruvik was feeling deep passion over this ordeal and stopping a man from his testimony was usually a mistake. He didn’t stop himself from wincing at the sight of his marred skin, the burns that wrapped all around his head. A piece of his head was a foggy white, as though he had to have surgery and replace a bit of his skull. Ruvik looked at him, eyes filled with a fire that sent a chill down Sebastian’s spine.

“My father isolated me from the world. From himself, from my mother…” Ruvik swallowed, as though to calm himself, and he began to wind the bandages around his head again. “I was sleeping when I heard the crashes and the yelling… I admit, I was frightened. When everything calmed down I went to see what happened, and my father and mother were both dead. This was many years after what happened to Laura… I remember finding them lying there… I was angry with my father but the idea of him and mother dying seemed impossible…”

Sebastian felt a twist to his stomach. Knowing how personally Ruvik felt to his family, and to his passions, it was strange to be having to stand before him like this, waiting for the rest of the story to pour from those pale lips.

“Detective, that’s how I inherited my fortune,” Ruvik finally said. “By having my family being forcibly taken from me.” He took a few deep breaths, allowing himself a moment to gain some composure. “Sebastian, I don’t have very much for you in terms of this case,” he added. “But I have something I recently found that may be of use to you.”

Since when did this aristocrat stop referring to him as detective and by first name? Sebastian kept silent, showing an expectation on his face for the answer. There was tension in the room, and he was sorely conscious that it came from the painting and from something deep within Ruvik’s own mind. But saying anything would be a mistake; Sebastian wasn’t the best with his words, and trying to say anything sympathetic or continuing based on his information could potentially be fatal to the case.

“There’s a woman at Beacon who should be of some interest to you. Her name is Tatiana Gutierrez, a quiet nurse. She runs the preservation space near the basements. I know her. She should be able to answer some questions about the case.” Ruvik had regained his blank expression. “Miss Kidman, your partner, likely spoke to her. But if there was nothing to report then she was asking the wrong questions. I suggest you try to speak to her. She could prove useful. She’s seen many things at that place, and she would be able to reveal her secrets if only you ask the right questions.”

**Very little conversation came after that. Sebastian attempted to show sympathy to Ruvik, who seemed to lose interest in his guest. After an awkward discussion about the manor and Ruvik’s family, though Sebastian was apprehensive about asking for details, Sebastian was heading home, feeling a knot in his stomach and a dull ache in his head.**


	6. The Hunter and its Prey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Busted out another chapter. A short one, I always do short ones. I hope this was good enough. I'm not feeling too good about this chapter, but I need to set up future events. Also Ruvik can be an asshole and not even be in a chapter. Isn't that great?

Tatiana was very different from what Sebastian was expecting. From what little he learned about her from Ruvik, he was hoping for someone that was a little bit bubbly but a little mysterious. The woman across the desk was not what he was expecting, however. She was fair, but her appearance had been dulled. Her eyes looked as though they were a blank slate, nothing passing; no hints, nothing. She was paying attention, but looked uninterested and ignoring Sebastian as he approached.

When he asked about her at the main entry, the doctors seemed to glance around, apprehensive to bringing him to her. Their story was that she was greatly disturbed, and found a connection to the section of Beacon that they had closed off. She insisted on taking care of it, and having it kept up in case they decided to do renovations or historical tours. She even made up a uniform based on many of the old nurses, which was very apparent as she stood before Sebastian.

¨Okay,” Sebastian began, looking from his papers to her. ¨My name is detective Sebastian Castellanos, I’m from the Krimson City Police Department. I have a few questions for you. Would that be alright?” Juli had briefed him on her own questioning earlier that day. She would have joined the detective in his questioning of the nurse, if not for her own pressing case, which Sebastian thought dull and was thankful he wasn’t assigned to it.

“One of you has already come in here,” Tatiana replied. Her voice was gentle, but void of emotion or feeling. “What further do you have for me?” Sebastian rather enjoyed the sound of her voice, but didn’t say so. Just because he found the voice of this woman a comfort didn’t mean she was a comfort herself.

“The night of the murders,” Sebastian said. “Where were you? What were you doing?”

Tatiana sat down on her little stool, hands folding on the countertop. She did not look at him, merely ahead at the blank wall. For a moment, Sebastian wondered if it would be good for this woman to be admitted into the hospital she was currently working in, but a comment like that would likely scare her away, and that wasn’t what he wanted. Instead he took a sweeping glance around the room, and was rather impressed with Tatiana’s preservation skills. There was a room just nearby with an old lobotomy chair, no longer in use, and it was roped off. But Sebastian could see the little door that led to the back space, which was where he had to coax Tatiana from just moments before. Sebastian had to descend many staircases to get there, as it was too old for an elevator. He saw the stairs to the basement as he came down, but the hall leading to Tatiana had some patient cells, all abandoned and empty upon inspection.

“Miss,” Sebastian tried to catch her attention. It didn’t work. “What happened on that night? Were you present at this hospital?”

“In a way,” she answered, slow and bored. “I was tending to the ghosts, as I always do.”

A phrase by that was definitely not something that thrilled Sebastian. “Ghosts? Of this place?”

“Terrible memories.”

“... I see…”

The questions he asked, about the scalpel, the barbed wire, if she saw anyone of significance, if she heard anything unusual, all were met with a wall of indifference. Her eyes flicked to him once or twice, but there was no meaning to her glances. She did it just to get a look at him for a moment before she lost interest and looked away again.

“Well… Thank you for your time, Miss Gutierrez,” Sebastian said. He thought about what information he got from her on the case as he began to walk away. What he go was nothing. Jaw set in anger, he was making a personal note to call Ruvik and complain that his lead didn’t work, when Tatiana spoke up behind him.

“There was a ghost who wandered the halls that night,” she said, causing Sebastian to stop. “He wandered quickly. Barefoot. He had blood all over him, but he didn’t spill a single drop.”

The countertop became Sebastian’s place to lean. He was close to Tatiana, their eyes locked in what felt like a showdown of the psyche. There was a flicker of life in her eyes, but Sebastian wondered if he maybe guessed it, as she went back to her aloof personality again.

“Who was he? Where did he go?”

“He was one of the many ghosts,” she replied. “And he came through. Looking.” She turned her head to the lobotomy chair. “He looked but never entered.”

“Do you have any idea who it was?”

Her silence spoke volumes.

“Okay…” Sebastian began to relax, letting out a deep sigh. It seemed as though the killer found his way into the basement, but why was yet unknown. There was nothing of significance in this basement, he could tell that much so far. “If you have any other information to tell us, please contact the KCPD. Thank you, ma’am, for your help.”

“A voice.”

Sebastian is halted again.

“There’s a boy here. Not… Not here but from above. When I visit I hear him. Constantly mumbling about the murder. So distraught… Poor darling should come down here for a little while to get away from the harsh world above.”

The only boy Sebastian knew who mumbled obsessantly about the murders was Leslie Withers. “You’ve heard him speak? What has he said?”

“He repeats their names. He talks often about blood. Of cuts.” Tatiana shrugged. “The man with him always tells him lies though. Trying to feed him false information. Words that I can tell aren’t true by how he says them.”

Sebastian wasn’t ready to jump to conclusions as to who this mystery man might be, but Doctor Jimenez was the first to appear in his mind, and he felt a festering. He knew something was wrong with that man, and the idea of him trying to lie to Leslie, their only witness, to convince him of something else, seemed as though he was a very likely suspect indeed. Juli had taken notes on him, saying he was a very strange doctor among all the others, comparatively.

“Was it Marcelo Jimenez?”

Tatiana looked up at Sebastian, and actually remained that way for a long time, instead of losing interest. She began to stand, her lack of emotion being replaced with, what Sebastian believed, was suspicion. “Who sent you to me?” she asked. “I don’t recall the other cop, the woman, thinking anything of me. She said it to some uniform cop. Who sent you?”

Was Sebastian going to answer that honestly? If this was something important to her, it might be a mistake to be honest. Sebastian got the feeling that the nurse wouldn’t like his answer. But he was as honest a man as he could be, when he could be, and Tatiana had given him some useful information, and lying to her face seemed to be an injustice.

“A Ruben Victoriano sent me your wa-”

Tatiana turned away in such a quick, rough motion that Sebastian took a step back. Had he really provoked her that much with a simple name? “Miss? Excuse me?” Tatiana walked into the back room, closing the door behind her. Sebastian could hear the sound of the door locking clear, it was so loud in such a quiet room. “Miss Gutierrez, I’m sorry. Have I offended you?”

He got no response.

There was a tug of regret in Sebastian’s chest as he ascended back to the main parts of Beacon. Tatiana actually gave him good information, and he did feel as though he had shoved all of her honesty back in her face. What was between her and Ruvik that caused her to react with such disgust? He suddenly felt self-conscious. Was he acting like Ruvik’s lap dog? That was what was in her eyes when he said the name. She looked at him like he was some disgusting pet.

He was walking through the halls to the main exit when he passed by Leslie’s cell. He slowed, hearing the mumbling boy inside. There was nothing in it he could hear clearly, even as he began to press his ear to the door. Leslie’s words were very brief, so repetitive, and Sebastian’s guilt was replaced with anger at Jimenez. If Tatiana’s testimony was true, Doctor Jimenez would have to explain himself at one point or another.

“Ah, detective Castellanos.”

As if on cue, there was the good doctor, walking quick to Sebastian. He looked nervous, something that made Sebastian angrier. “What a pleasant surprise. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m a little behind schedule and I have to work on Leslie’s therapies. Other people present during those makes him nervous.”

Sebastian raised a brow. “I can’t see him even for a minute?”

“As I said, detective, I am finding myself behind schedule,” Jimenez answered. “I was helping with a few other patients, there were some issues going on. Rowdy and violent, you see.”

Sebastian nodded, holding back all the comments running through his head. The way he was treating this boy, based on even that testimony, was neglectful, putting other patients before your own. But now was not the time to interrogate Jimenez - he wanted to return to the KCPD and tell Joseph his findings, and to formulate a further plan. He still felt a shred of guilt over giving Joseph the scraps; talking to Jimenez might be a good reward for his patience.

“Well… I’ll be seeing you another time then, doctor.”

**Sebastian’s shoulder barely brushed Jimenez’s, a sign of dominance, in this sick and dark world.**


	7. Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters might take a while to get out right now. I've been busy and I'm having some emotional issues. Thank you guys for being nice and supportive during this time for me.
> 
> If you want to see previews of Passive and/or chat with me I am an avid tumblr user. My URL is psychopathicsound and I would be happy to suit your needs!

Sebastian was getting ready to head out when Joseph entered his office. He was pulling on his coat, thinking about stopping somewhere to get a few drinks, when Joseph had arrived at his door with a look of excitement in his eyes. It was rare for Sebastian to see Joseph in such a good mood, and his movements began to slow in getting ready to leave as Joseph took a moment to stand there in pride.

It seemed as though Joseph wasn’t going to say anything unless Sebastian asked what he was so thrilled about, almost as though he was looking for approval. Amused, Sebastian played along.

“Okay, Joseph,” he said, hiding his smile as he adjusted his sleeve. “What are you so happy about?”

“I may have found a good suspect.”

The papers that Joseph threw on Sebastian’s desk were of a sad looking man. Sebastian couldn’t describe him in any other way. The suspect looked like a sad little thing that Sebastian would rather pity than put in prison. “What’s up with him?” he asked. “Give me the story.”

“This guy was a patient at Beacon,” Joseph answered. “Was a patient for a long time. In fact, they deemed him incurable, initially. He was one of the patients they sort of kept in the back, treating him the best they could but they sort of gave up on trying to cure him. He was all over the board with his mental illnesses. Just nuts - How many, not him, sorry.” Joseph’s arms crossed over his chest. “Anyway, when the budget cuts were happening, Beacon was taking a hard hit. Sounds like your boy Victoriano wasn’t giving much more in funds than usual, even when asked. Suddenly they announced him cured and sent him on his way. The family was outraged, they were terrified of him. They pleaded for Beacon to take him back, but they said no. Then he killed his family in a fit of rage, and blamed it on Beacon. The guy is back at the hospital, and it sounds like he’s a lunatic raving about getting revenge on the ward for what they made him do to his family. Got enough reason to get out and kill those doctors, eh?”

Needless to say, Sebastian was impressed. The things that Joseph seemed to formulate based on the documents on Sebastian’s desk were certainly cohesive. “Have you spoken to the patient?”

“I’m about to,” Joseph answered. “Would you like to stick around? Connelly is bringing him from Beacon right now.”

“I can maybe hang around for a little while. But I’d rather stay on the sidelines. I’ll let you know if I have any questions.”

With a nod, Joseph picked up the documents and began to head out from Sebastian’s office. The elder stopped Joseph, giving him a nod. “Good work, detective Oda.”

Joseph beamed as he left the office.

***

There were mixed feelings about the interrogation. Joseph was perfect at it; he was asking all the right questions, saying all the right things, it was brilliant. Yet the man sitting across from him in that room, the patient from Beacon, was very nervous, shouting or whispering, nothing in the middle, and squirming in his chair. Joseph was asking the right questions - he was far more patient with this man than Sebastian would have been. Sebastian had called to Joseph and told him a few questions to ask, yet their responses were always incomplete and cryptic.

“Ask him if he knows anything about Leslie Withers.”

The response was more mumbling, but nothing coherent or of significance. Sebastian figured it, but he thought it worth a shot to find out more about what Doctor Jimenez was up to.

There was a point where Joseph began to obviously lose hope in the questioning. A point where his shoulders began to slump, and the look of pride in his eyes began to fade. Sebastian was tempted to go in there and try to help him recover, but he knew that would be a mistake. Joseph had to wait until he either got a key answer, or the whole thing fell apart and he experienced defeat.

“Detective Castellanos.”

One of the secretaries for the KCPD was at his side”, and thankfully she missed the slight twitch his body made from being startled. “There’s a call for you, Detective. Apologies, I know you’re busy. Would you like me to take a message?”

“No, no,” Sebastian let out a deep sigh. “Just… tell Joseph I went to take the call. Transfer it to my line.”

Retreating to his office, Sebastian took a seat. Within seconds of being seated, the holding light began to blink on his phone. He answered, muttering his usual lines of “Detective Castellanos of the KCPD” and all that junk he cannot repeat unless the receiver was pressed to his ear.

“Oh, Seb,” a cool, familiar voice played in his ear, “So nice to get into contact with you once again.”

Sebastian’s grip tightened on the phone. Ruvik’s voice was the one on the line. The Victoriano boy actually called him for once… How strange.

“What’s your business, Ruvik?”

“A nice one…” Ruvik almost sounded amused and playful. It was a little disturbing to Sebastian. “When are you next available? I was hoping to do an exchange of information over dinner? You tell me what you learned from Tatiana, and I can show you some papers that might help your case.”

Sebastian thought of the documents that had been on Ruvik’s desk when they last met. A few of them had the Beacon symbol on them, and what little Sebastian saw of them, he was hoping that they would be a subject of interest. But he thought of the idea of dinner, something that didn’t seem like a good idea to him. “I’m not supposed to dine with suspects, Ruvik.”

“Well, it’ll be our little secret, now won’t it?”

A chill was sent through Sebastian. He didn’t like this. Ruvik was promoting him crossing boundaries he would never dare cross, not for any reason. He remembered a moment in his life, though, when he dared to cross a boundary for a beautiful woman…

He shook the thoughts out of his head. “When exactly did you have this dinner in mind?”

“I was hoping tomorrow night, if you’re free.”

How casual Ruvik was about the situation made his stomach knot a little. Not of disgust but… discomfort?

“Fine. But I expect to see these documents you’re speaking of.”

“And I expect to hear what Tatiana told you. I can try to fill in any holes in her testimony, if you have any confusion.”

“What does she mean by ghosts?”

“That’s a story for another time, Seb. Dinner time, to be specific.”

Before Sebastian could even think of a remark, the dial tone pierced his eardrum.

***

“Good evening, Detective.”

Ruvik was dressed rather nice as he opened the door for Sebastian. A dark red suit, his bandages fresh and light against his pale skin. He was standing in a stiff but polite manner, and Sebastian wasn’t sure if he was trying to impress or not. Ruvik didn’t seem the type to try to actually impress anyone, but at that moment he wasn’t so sure.

Sebastian had also attempted to clean up, though not quite as dashing as Ruvik. A nicer uniform, an even tie, everything tucked in properly and though his attempt to shave was thwarted by a broken razor, as much cleanliness as he could muster. Looking at Ruvik though, he felt once more inadequate and was mentally cursing the rich and how perfect they always looked  because of how they could afford it.

“Detective or ‘Seb’?” Sebastian found himself joking as he walked in. “You can’t seem to make up your mind about what you want to call me.”

“I can’t tell if you want to be professional or anywhere near casual,” Ruvik answered. He began to walk to a side room, gesturing for Sebastian to follow. “You came just on time, I managed to just finish making dinner.”

Sebastian followed into a beautiful dining room, foods all set out. He spotted some rather expensive looking bread, a rather surprising amount of fruit (a few he didn’t recognize but that didn’t matter) and quite a few pastas and various sauces. “You made all this?”

“Well, I try.” Ruvik showed a brief moment of embarrassment, though he quickly went to a blank state again. “It took me years to master any form of cooking. I hadn’t needed to until I fired all of the help here. Except for my part time maid. I enjoy her cooking but she isn’t coming for a few days.”

The took took a seat. To Sebastian’s surprise, Ruvik didn’t take the head seat of the table. He took the seat just to its right, usually reserved for the son of the household. A habit, Sebastian assumed, Ruvik would never be able to get over.

“Well, it’s better than anything I could probably do,” Sebastian said. He took a seat just across from Ruvik, giving him a nod of thanks. The two began to take up the meal in an awkward silence, and Sebastian was the first to take a bite. The food wasn’t an explosion of flavor, it wasn’t anything very stunning to him. It was decent, and he enjoyed it as he ate. Ruvik ate across from him, though very little was on his plate. The aristocrat was a very thin man in general, and Sebastian figured that was why, as he watched.

“So why did you want to be a detective?”

That was a question Sebastian never thought he would get from the man across from him. It made the situation a little uncomfortable, especially as it hit Sebastian what Ruvik was trying to do. He was trying to make conversation. To actually talk. No questioning each other about the case, no discussing anything that could hint at that… small talk. Communication. It was amazing.

“Um…” Sebastian shifted in his seat, taking a drink of some of the wine that Ruvik had out. It was a bitter taste at first, but the sweet flavors came in a nice aftertaste. “I… I always saw the crime in Krimson City and wanted to do something about it. At first I was just a cop, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t do much in a position like that… so I worked my way up. As a detective I can actually take charge and stop crime, it’s a great thing for someone like me to be able to do.” He stopped for a moment, letting the glass of wine sit at his lips. “Why are you interested? Did you look into my files or something? You seemed to know about my drinking.”

Ruvik looked a little embarrassed, which was strange. The recluse wasn’t often so open about his emotions, but at that moment he was letting a little thought and feeling through. “I was able to get a look at some of the files,” he said, shrugging. “Your record is impressive. The drinking was quite a surprise, though appropriate now that I think of it.”

The thoughts of Myra came to Sebastian’s head, and he shrugged it off quickly. The idea of Ruvik knowing about what happened was something that he would prefer to not think about, and for once he was finding himself relaxing around this man, and he didn’t want to ruin it. “I guess you could say that.” He took a drink of the wine, focusing on that nice aftertaste instead of the current conversation.

Ruvik nodded a little, hands folding just above his plate as he watched Sebastian with his dull eyes. “So what did Miss Gutierrez tell you?” he asked.

The mention of the case was almost a relief to Sebastian. All thoughts of Myra fell away to the case, and the tightness in his chest subsided as he fell into comfort again. “I wanted to ask you what she meant by the ghosts,” he said. “She constantly talked about watching the ghosts and all that. What the hell does that even mean?”

“Miss Gutierrez worked at Beacon for a long time,” Ruvik answered. He took a moment to eat a slice of bread, making Sebastian wait for a proper answer. “She saw things that Beacon used to do. You remember the accusations against the hospital. Many terrible things were done there years ago, why do you think I temporarily stopped funding them?” He shrugged. “She saw those horrors. She’s a scarred woman. They haunt her every day, and the only setting that she feels they belong in is the hospital. She actually works in that old section, and is caring for memories that plague her. She wants to remember them and keep them safe and well. Sometimes, though, she has a hard time deciding who is a ghost and who is real. She likely thought you were a ghost when you two first met.”

“I mentioned you and she got angry and left.”

“Oh that…” Ruvik shifted in his seat. “I had been… I wasn’t satisfied with her work and tried to get her fired. After that incident she surprised me with great progress. It was wonderful to see how she was reacting so well. The only problem was she loathed me. Never trust me again.”

Sebastian understood that feeling. When Joseph reported him, he was so angry with his partner. There had been a rift between the two detectives, and though Joseph was right to have done it, Sebastian had a bit of hostility over the memories of it. He understood Tatiana’s position, that hostility to Ruvik - if Ruvik was telling the truth of course.

“What else did she tell you?”

Sebastian looked up. He had been transfixed by his drink, thinking about it heavily. “Oh, uhh…” He scratched his chin. Now came the question about what he was willing to tell a suspect. This whole dinner was a mistake, and he knew it, but seeing as he was here, he figured a little lack of caution wouldn’t hurt. As this ordeal was a loss to Ruvik’s fortune and research, he might as well compensate for the losses. “She told me that she did see a man. Who it is I don’t know; I know it was the killer but the details of who aren’t of my knowledge. Otherwise this case would be over.”

“She saw him?” Ruvik sounded interested. “What was he doing all the way in that basement? The only way in an out of Beacon is the front door, right? I believe that’s the case anyway.”

Sebastian nodded. “There aren’t any windows that would be ideal to leave from, anyway. Many are barred, and there were no disturbances in the bars. They’re permanent, too, can’t be removed with any locks or anything. So why the killer would have ventured down there is a complete mystery.”

“There might have been something they were looking for?” Ruvik shrugged, and Sebastian could sense him losing interest. “There’s a lot of random items in the basement, the ones they put for storage. I’ve been in there only once and it was quite a curious place. Maybe you could take a look into what might be down there.”

The two fell silent, having the dinner. Sebastian felt more relaxed over time, and after a while he realized that it might have been as a result of Ruvik always refilling his glass with wine whenever he finished. Normally it was tough to get a buzz on wine, compared to the liquors that he usually drank, but he felt his head getting a little light and his body growing a little slack. He was about to comment on it when Ruvik turned away, and Sebastian quickly realized he was trying to suppress a laugh. “What’s so funny?”

Ruvik faced Sebastian after a moment of shaking shoulders and his hand over his mouth. His eyes were gleaming with amusement, something Sebastian thought looked handsome on him. He was too intoxicated to question a thought like that, and he tilted his head a little as Ruvik took a moment to collect himself.

“Seb, you do realize how much wine you’ve had.”

“How much?”

“Well, I was waiting for you to stop me from filling it but I see now that you won’t… Sebastian, between us there have been nearly three bottles of wine between us. Two and a half, specifically. And you’re the one who had the most.”

Sebastian raised his brows, silent for a moment. He hadn’t done much drinking for years. Something like that was rare for him, to fall back into old habits, but at that moment he didn’t mind because it caused a small smile on Ruvik’s face that the aristocrat had a difficult time trying to hide and he thought it looked nice.

“Well, you might as well keep them coming,” Sebastian said. He was now aware that his voice was getting a little slow and dragged. Did he not notice it before? Of course he couldn’t have, they hadn’t been talking for quite some time. He felt a little embarrassed, a little self-conscious, but it wasn’t so much. He figured he’d be more embarrassed if he wasn’t as drunk.

“Well, Seb,” Ruvik stood now. The picked up their plates, and Sebastian was barely conscious of Ruvik’s closeness for a moment, as he leaned over him a little to get his plate. “I’m afraid that in your current state, I can’t allow you to drive home. You’ll have to spend the night in one of my guest rooms until you recover from your…” He eyed Sebastian a moment before getting a devious grin. “Your stupor.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sebastian grumbled. He got to his feet, rubbing his eyes with his hand for a moment.

“As an enforcer of the law, you should be aware that drunk driving is, in fact, illegal,” Ruvik replied. He gathered a few more plates, balancing them in his arms with unusual care. “I’ll prepare a guest room for you. For now, please take time in the lounge so I can finish here. And don’t touch anything, I don’t trust a drunk cop.”

He walked from the room before Sebastian could protest, carrying nearly half the contents of the table with him. Instead of going to the lounge, Sebastian picked up a lingering apple and walked out of the manor, fumbling for his keys as he stepped out into the fresh night air. He managed to get out his keys when he looked around, and found himself mumbling to himself.

“The hell… where….” He stopped halfway down the steps. “Where’s the fucking car?”

There were tire tracks down the road, away from the manor, but Sebastian couldn’t tell if they were coming or going from the manor itself. “Dammit… god… goddammit!”

“Detective?”

Ruvik was standing there, arms crossed over his thin chest, leaning against the doorway. Though his face was void of any expression, Sebastian could tell that he was hiding the obvious amusement that he was feeling. “Is something the matter, Seb?”

“You got a lot of thief problems.”

“Tell me something I don’t know, Seb.”

“... They stole my car.”

Ruvik stared at the detective for a moment before looking around at the lawn. Surprise came to his face a brief moment, then a small smile. “Well, it seems the thieves agree with me and not you,” he said. “You can’t just go out driving like that. Stay the night, recover, and I’ll figure out something of a way back for you.” He shifted his body so that he held open the doors, gesturing inside with an elegant sweep of his arm. “Come inside, Seb. I don’t want you to get a cold, you’ll never finish the case if you do.”

A response was ready at Sebastian’s lips, but it fell short as he began to feel drowsiness settling in. He shifted where he stood, looking down at his shoes. They were started to get scuffed already, and he felt a little angry at this - Ruvik would make him take them off again and he’d be in socks and feel self-conscious again. He could only think of it as a weakness, and he didn’t like that.

**“... Fine…” He walked up to the doors, barely missing Ruvik as he went inside. The doors shut with a sense of finality behind him.**


	8. In the Quiet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a filler chapter. I hated writing it but I hope you like it!

There was a white hot pain that caused Sebastian to groan as he woke up, rolling over slightly as he reached up and held his head. He buried his head into the pillows, feeling exhaustion in his muscles and stinging pain just behind his eyes. After a few minutes of adjusting and waking up, he began to realize that the pillow against his head wasn’t familiar. It was soft, unused, more comfortable, and he sat up and found that he was in a bed that wasn’t his. “What the hell…”

The night before hit him then, and he rubbed his face, letting out another weak groan. “Goddammit... “

Swinging his legs out of bed, Sebastian made a surprised sound as he felt the cold air hit him. His pained, processing head told him it was because he had been stripped down to his briefs, and had fallen asleep like that. He couldn’t remember if that was of his own doing, or the will of his host. He quickly went to reach for his clothes…

… which weren’t there.

Sebastian searched the room, only finding his belt, tie and pocket possessions sitting on a desk. Everything else had been taken away, causing Sebastian to feel exposed, even in a private environment. In his search, he realized there was a note left on the pillow that was yet unused by the detective. Looking over it, he found that it was from Ruvik. The only issue is that Ruvik’s handwriting was uneven scribbles, which had Sebastian’s chest fill with amusement. Doctor’s writing, a career as a doctor something Sebastian recalled that Ruvik aspired to.

What he got from the note was that Ruvik had taken his clothes to wash, as he didn’t have any spares. Some robes were in the closet, something Sebastian doubted would work for him. However, when he checked, he found some soft, fresh robes that he pulled on, tying at the waist. “Guess this’ll have to do.”

The hall outside his room were completely unfamiliar. The whole situation was uncomfortable, and as he walked down those halls, he wondered if he had walked them himself or if Ruvik had to lead him because he was too piss-drunk to figure anything out. There was shame in the pit of his stomach, replacing the amusement he previously felt. Getting drunk in front of a suspect is awful. What’s worse, this endeavor was far beyond what Sebastian thought appropriate - getting out of it would be the first thing on his mind.

After some exploring, Sebastian finally came to the foyer, which he found impressive. The whole place was beautiful, a little too victorian for his tastes, but beautiful all the same. Every time he had arrived here, Ruvik had dragged him through to a desired location, but now Sebastian was able to take his time and admire all that was around him. Though it was beautiful, the size and darkness made it look sad, as though it was a prison for Ruvik. Sebastian wondered if it was.

Descending the stairs, he saw that the dining room door was ajar, and the smell of breakfast beckoned the detective in. He went through the dining room and into the kitchen, which was smaller than he was anticipating. Ruvik stood there, cooking up some eggs. A few foods were already sitting ready on one of the counters. Ruvik was silent, but Sebastian didn’t peg him as the type of person to even let out a hum when he cooked.

“You managed to find your way down here,” Ruvik said, though Sebastian had hardly made a sound. “I’m impressed that you could remember how to get around here.”

Sebastian went over to the food on the counter, his thoughts only on the breakfast. “This ready to eat?”

“Well, Seb,” Ruvik said. Though Sebastian glanced over and saw no expression on his host’s face, he could hear a playful tone in his voice. “If you must know… yes, they’re ready.” He gestured to a table just in the kitchen. “Go ahead and eat, there are no formalities in the morning.”

Sebastian took up his plate only after Ruvik put one of the cooked eggs on it. He went to the table, sitting down and eating with little hesitation. He listened to the sound of further eggs being cooked, and he felt comfortable, peaceful almost. As it was last night, the food was good. Ruvik’s flavoring wasn’t spectacular, but something nice and subtle, though Sebastian would probably eat it if it tasted bland.

Sebastian was so focussed on his food that he didn’t notice Ruvik tense where he stood, then his hands slackening and falling from the pan and to his sides. Sebastian didn’t hear the initial sounds of what was something of a mumbling, of incoherent words and sounds, but he became alert when Ruvik collapsed on the ground.

“Ruvik?” Sebastian jumped up to his feet when Ruvik hit the floor, laying there and trembling. He went over as quick as he could, crouching beside the man and watching. Sebastian saw that Ruvik’s arms began to twitch, and his back constantly lifting up off the floor. His head shook at all angles, and Sebastian saw that excessive saliva was dripping from the aristocrat’s mouth.

“Shit…!”

Sebastian knew very little on how to handle a situation like this. He quickly stood up and turned off the stove - the food was starting to burn and Sebastian didn’t want to worry about what he figured was a seizure and a potential fire. He backed up from the writhing body, then turned and ran out of the room. It was easy to find the lounge, it was just across from the dining hall. He grabbed a few of the sofa’s pillows and even one of the seat cushions, bringing them back to the kitchen. He managed to roll Ruvik’s trembling body onto the large cushion, placing many of the pillows around him as a sort of barrier to Ruvik’s movements, which were increasing in rapidity.

Unsure of what to do further, Sebastian got a glass of water ready for when Ruvik was finished. He felt a little bit angry that Ruvik’s file never mentioned seizures, and that he would have felt far more prepared if he had at least known of them. He sat there, waiting, wondering where the hell a phone was so he could call for help, but the idea of leaving Ruvik’s side for too long in such a state seemed like a terrible idea.

After nearly ten minutes, Ruvik’s spasms began to slow. His breathing began to correct itself, and his trembling eyelids finally kept closed. The thin body pressed to one set of pillows, as though clinging to it for a moment. Finally, Ruvik began to sit up, a hand as his head, the other wiping his mouth and chin. Sebastian thought he looked dazed and confused as he looked around. His eyes settled on Sebastian and the detective thought there was a dark blush on what little he could see of Ruvik’s cheeks.

“A-Apologies…” Ruvik sat there, suddenly looking so small and weak and almost innocent to Sebastian. “I was… I....”

“It’s a health issue,” Sebastian said. He approached Ruvik, giving him the glass of water. “Drink this, relax for a few minutes, then eat. You got a phone?”

Ruvik nodded slowly, taking a small sip of the water. His hands were still trembling, but not as violent as they had been previously. “It’s upstairs in the study…”

Sebastian lingered for a minute, watching Ruvik regain his strength before going up to the study. He remembered going to it to see the scalpels weeks before, though he paused to admire the shelves of books and the beautiful windows for a moment. He saw the phone on the desk, a little amused by it. This was where Ruvik was to answer and even call Sebastian. He could picture him standing by the desk,or sitting there with papers, the phone to his ear and a smile on his lips. The phone itself was so old, and though Sebastian knew it would work, he found himself doubting for a moment.

The person he called was Joseph. Knowing it was morning, Sebastian wondered if Joseph would even be in. Normally he stayed home a little late to take his daughter to school and see her off, but every so often he would come to the office early on. The phone rung right into voicemail. Sebastian left one, conveying his situation, then tried for Juli, who was usually in the office. She did not pick up, but Sebastian didn’t feel like answering. He made a few more calls, to some likable cops in the depo, but none were answering their phones.

“Come on, none in? A few of these guys should be in the middle of their fucking shifts….”

He redialed a few, but eventually just put the phone back and left the study. His mind went back to Ruvik, whom he went to go check on. Sebastian was a little annoyed with himself - before he thought of anything else, his thoughts had immediately gone to his host, in forms of concern, which he didn’t like. Instead of thoughts of finding his clothes, he wondered if Ruvik was feeling okay.

Ruvik was now standing in the kitchen, leaning against a counter for support. He looked tired, knuckles white from his grip on the counter. “Wh… Who did you call?” Ruvik asked when he saw Sebastian enter the room. He looked tired, ready to collapse.

Sebastian began to pick up all the pillows and cushions. “They didn’t answer anyway,” he grumbled. “Just called so see if anyone could come and get me.” He pulled the cushion under his arm, the rest littered about in his grip. “I’m going to put these back, then you’re going to rest on the damn sofa. You look like a mess.”

Bringing the pillows back was easy, but Sebastian found getting Ruvik to the lounge was rather difficult. The aristocrat was unbalanced, still recovering from the previous seizure, but would give Sebastian glares whenever the detective tried to touch him, to help him. Eventually, though, Sebastian got so annoyed that Ruvik couldn’t even leave the kitchen that he picked up the smaller man, carrying him to the lounge while ignoring his protests and various shouts of anger.

Ruvik was placed on the sofa, and Sebastian took a seat in one of the other chairs. He watched as the other man sat up, leaning heavily against the arm of the sofa as they watched each other. The silence of the room shook Sebastian - was it always like this for Ruvik? Did he even feel this silence?

¨You’ve got to have a way for me to get home without issue,¨ Sebastian said.

"Debatable."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

His host looked bored, shrugging and practically laying on the arm of the sofa. “I have a vehicle,” he said. This news was promising to Sebastian, but he knew there was a catch, based on how the other reacted to his wanting to leave. “Unfortunately I have never taken the time to learn to drive it.”

“You’re serious?”

The look in Ruvik’s eyes was something Sebastian couldn’t place, couldn’t pinpoint what it meant. They looked at each other for a long time, and Ruvik just shook his head. He began to stand up, though it was shaky and awkward. “I am completely serious detective,” he said. “If you were to take my vehicle you would have difficulties returning it, and if I were to go with you, it would be the same situation, only at your home.”

“Well I can always go and have Joseph come back with -”

“I don’t like him.”

His defiance was frustrating, but Sebastian relented, resting his cheek on his fist as he continued to sit in the present chair. Ruvik was standing straight, but holding onto the arm of the sofa with a tight grip that was turning his knuckles white. Sebastian was taking note of things that set off Ruvik’s temper - there were quite a few, but for some reason Joseph was an easy way to make him angry. “What’s wrong with Joseph?”

“I don’t like him. I’ve taken note of many people working in the police department. I’d be happier if he wasn’t there.” Something sounded off in Ruvik’s tone, as if that answer was just the surface of what Ruvik’s thoughts were on Joseph. Sebastian just gave a nod of defeat, head shaking as he stood now.

“I’m going to do some paperwork,” Ruvik said. He was a little shaky in his steps, but he left the room, Sebastian alone. He decided to look around, but there wasn’t much to look at. Beautiful items, but they were pretty plain and he disregarded them quickly. A stack of books sat on one of the endtables, various medical and psychological books. Curious as to what Ruvik would get out of those, he sat himself down and took up the top book, flipping it open. It was a psychological book, and Sebastian saw that there were notes and scribbles all throughout it. The images in the book, the diagrams, there were little sketches around them and in the spaces, adding to their quality. The detective found himself reading the notes more than the book. It was nothing he understood, but he was interested all the same.

Most of the day was like this - Sebastian pouring over book after book, seeing the contents and the things that Ruvik added. It was fascinating, and he was lost eventually in a section of blank papers in the back of the medical book that consisted of dark sketches of the body and the brain. They were a little unnerving, but Sebastian admired his hard work at getting an accurate depiction of them.

“You didn’t come to any of the meals.”

Sebastian looked up to Ruvik standing in front of him. He didn’t remember hearing the door to the lounge opening at all. Those pale eyes were on him, arms crossed over his chest. There was something of expectancy on Ruvik’s face, disappointed and annoyed. The detective closed the book and set it aside, looking over to the old clock towering in the corner. “What? What time is it?”

“You’ve missed both lunch and dinner.”

“Oh…” Sebastian stood up, stretching a little. “I guess I was a little distracted.” He watched Ruvik glance over the books that Sebastian had been looking at, as though he was worried or suspicious, but he shook his head after a moment.

“I have a few drinks in the other room. Care to join me?” Ruvik asked. “Don’t worry about getting drunk again, I’m prepared to refuse you liquor if I think you’re getting even a little bit tipsy.” He walked away before Sebastian could reject the offer, leaving the room with an expectant attitude to his walk.

Back in the dining room were a few different drinks, most of which Sebastian hadn’t seen before. He sat down across from Ruvik, who had already poured out a drink and passed it to him. “I think you’ll like this one,” he said. There was such confidence in his voice as he took up his own drink. After they both seemed to get comfortable though, and even had a few glasses, Ruvik stood up and sat just beside Sebastian, though the chairs were spaced apart for comfort. Sebastian wasn’t sure whether to say something or not, but how uncaring and indifferent Ruvik was being made him decide against it.

“You’re an interesting man,” Ruvik said after a moment. He was looking at Sebastian, sizing him up as he watched. “You come from almost nowhere, nothing to your name… and rise through the ranks to a detective.”

The idea of being observed and almost a “subject” of Ruvik’s made Sebastian feel uncomfortable. He knew that Ruvik was observing him, but the idea of it made him feel exposed. It wasn’t that he had anything to hide - no, he just didn’t like the watchful eyes on him, didn’t like someone taking an interest in who he was, what he was doing. Not in the way that Ruvik had taken an interest.

¨Didn’t think it would be all that big of a deal to you,” Sebastian commented. The drink was good, and he noticed that Ruvik was constantly changing their drinks, mumbling a little ¨Lets try this one¨ as he did. He didn’t feel suspicious that Ruvik was trying to slip him anything. Sebastian’s hand was always on his glass, and Ruvik was drinking the contents of his drink just as much as Sebastian was.

¨Well, I like knowing what people are doing,¨ he said. ¨When this case started, I tried to anticipate who was going to be in charge of the case. I studied you and a few other people. Thankfully it was you instead of the others; You’re far more down to earth than the others. Easier for me to relate to.¨

Sebastian was unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He noticed that Ruvik was closer, leaning more against the table and his chair had since scooted a little closer. He felt discomfort, but once again resorted to silence. He took a drink of his own, shaking his head a little to himself.

¨You’re such a wonderful figure.¨

Sebastian and Ruvik met eyes. The detective saw something almost burning in them, alight with something that made him feel uncomfortable. ¨Wonderful figure?¨

¨You have appropriate proportions,” Ruvik answered, bringing his drink to his lips. He was looking Sebastian over, a devious look on his face. ¨Your shoulders are broad, strong. They bear a sense of animalistic dominance. Your body does an interesting… narrowing as you go down to the hips. Differently proportioned than most bodies.” He gestured to Sebastian’s arm. ¨Your arms are normal length, but they borderline on calling them long. They’re just normal enough to where I do not wish to call them that. Your face shape...¨

Ruvik’s hand moved up, startling Sebastian. He barely touched him, just his fingers gently touching his cheek. ¨Your nose looks as though it’s been broken a few times… You have some scars, but they’re all perfect in context of your features….¨

Sebastian leaned back, pushing his hand away. ¨Don’t touch me.¨

Ruvik stared at him a moment longer, then nodded, leaning back into his chair. Their closeness was broken, and Sebastian felt as though he was able to breathe again. Ruvik stood after a few more drinks, picking up the bottles and balancing them in his arms. ¨You should head to bed, detective. You look like you could use some rest.¨ He left the room before Sebastian could reply.

Standing, Sebastian went up, and had to spend a few minutes finding the room he was supposed to be in before entering. He realized he was still in the robes. He had been the whole day. His clothes were sitting on the bed, folded neat. He put them on the dresser and decided to just remove the robe and lay in the bed and try to sleep.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about Ruvik and what he had been saying.

A man who seemed to know a lot about him.

**But wouldn’t say too much.**


	9. All Mixed Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHH FINALLY A SHIPPY MOMENT!
> 
> Now remember. I ship RuviSeb. But so far the ship isn't FINAL for the story. It's just a shippy moment. Woohoo!! So enjoy a beautiful, mildly shippy chapter with awkward physical contact. This is the chapter I was waiting for.

Sebastian awoke with a start that morning. He’d been having nightmares, strange ones that he didn’t recognize. They were hazy, but he clearly remembered the feeling of being forced into a stretcher, tied down, and needles going into his arms. It was a disturbing dream, one that when he woke up, stung his brain just behind his eyes, jolting him up out of bed.

What he woke up to wasn’t much better.

“R-Ruvik, what the hell are you doing here?”

The host was sitting at the bedside, head tilted a little, expression blank. He looked as though he had been there for some time, watching Sebastian sleep. “I was passing your room and I heard you moaning in your sleep,” he said. “You look like you had a horrible dream, Seb. I was just making sure you wouldn’t end up screaming from whatever panic was taking over.”

Sebastian rubbed sleep from his eyes, glaring as he fully sat up. “You don’t just watch someone as they sleep,” he said. “That’s just fucking weird.”

“Well, you’re in my home, and in my home, I do not find it… weird.”

“Well it is.”

He swung his legs out of bed, forgetting that he was in his undergarments again. He didn’t like being so naked in front of Ruvik, and he subtly pulled the blankets over his legs and waist. “Can you leave so I can get dressed or some shit? You’re also in the way for me getting up and I’m not afraid to run you down if I have to.”

Ruvik had quick movements. That much Sebastian became aware of as he found a hand on his chin. It wasn’t holding tight, but it kept his head firmly in place as Ruvik leaned close, looking at him with narrowed eyes. They stared at each other, and Sebastian began to hear Ruvik mumbling to himself as his eyes wandered all around Sebastian’s features, though he couldn’t make out what the aristocrat was saying.

For a moment Sebastian felt self-conscious. He remembered the comments Ruvik had made the night before about his features, and he wanted to pull away from the other’s touch, but he resisted calmly. Ruvik wasn’t trying to hurt him, and he saw from the look in his eyes, he knew Ruvik didn’t want to offend him, he was just doing his ¨observation" shit.

Ruvik's other hand slid up and began to touch Sebastian's shoulders and neck, fingers just skimming his skin, causing his muscles to jump in surprise at the touch. They were cold against him, and he shifted a little away from him.

¨Come now, detective," Ruvik murmured. ¨I'm just looking. I won't bite.¨

Sebastian submitted to the contact, watching Ruvik's expression. He looked lost in Sebastian's features, his hands moving down to run along his chest, tracing each scar, one rubbing an old bullet wound. One hand moved to feel his arms at a time before going right back to his chest, then down to his stomach.

¨Fascinating..." Ruvik breathed. His eyes were alight, and he was leaning in close, lips parted a little as he stared. For a moment Sebastian thought he looked as though he wanted to not only feel Sebastian, but taste him as well, and even though he found strong discomfort, he continued to allow Ruvik to touch him.

At least, until he felt hands on his hips.

Reaching down, Sebastian grabbed Ruvik's hands and brought them up to eye level. The fascination in Ruvik's eyes instantly changed to anger as he looked up at Sebastian. He was forced to stop touching Sebastian, who could tell that Ruvik felt very personally denied. ¨That isn't for you to touch.¨

¨I was only looking.¨ Ruvik sounded defensive, as if trying to justify his contact. He stood up, arms crossing over his chest. ¨Go and shower then,¨ he said, and he walked out of the room in a quick pace that caused Sebastian to feel more surprise.

Sighing, the detective stood, shivering a little. He could feel those hands running along his body still, cold and gentle, different from any contact that he had experienced. He felt like had was examined, a scientific study to his host - yet the fury in his eyes when he was denied further passage wasn't that of a man looking at some form of study.

Grabbing his clothes, he went down to the bathroom, and enjoyed a relaxing shower. He had a bit of worry that Ruvik would show up and be watching him during that, but with each glance out into the main part of the bathroom, Sebastian began to relax over his host and was able to shower with peace. Being able to clean himself up was a relief, and he pulled a towel around his waist after drying himself. He was going to pull on his clothes, but he shrugged it away. He wasn’t sure why, but he left them there as he went down to the kitchen.

Ruvik seemed to be in a healthier form, making breakfast without any issues. He looked awake, not drowsy, and when he turned to greet Sebastian - and he stared. His eyes grew wide for a moment, then he turned away, but Sebastian could see that he was still glancing out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, Sebastian regretted the choice to come out in only his towel, but as there wasn’t much he could do about it now. He sat down at the small table, humming as he watched Ruvik cook.

“I cleaned up your uniform,” Ruvik said. His voice was sharp, thrumming with an excitement that was new to Sebastian’s ears. The aristocrat wasn’t expecting Sebastian to come out in such an… open manner, and it was easily riling him up.

“I’m gonna get dressed when I’m all dried off,” he said. He was mostly dry, but there was a dampness to his hair and skin that he always hated being in his clothes when he got dressed after bathing. So it wasn’t too big of a deal to him, in that sense. Even with Ruvik facing away from him, though, he felt as though he was being watched with a hunger, a burning gaze of want and even a little bit of jealousy and possessiveness.

Sebastian knew people of that nature. He had been with men before, often in private. And many were jealous creatures who wanted to keep him, and almost control him. This wasn’t someone he fancied - no, the person before him was someone who he suspected of murder. Though there wasn’t much proof to think that Ruvik would have killed those doctors, he wasn’t willing to put anything past him just yet.

Ruvik turned to put food out on the table - typical breakfast foods - but he ended up slowing down in his steps as he was staring at Sebastian’s chest area, and his eyes wandered downwards a little to the exposed areas of his hip. The detective coughed a little to get Ruvik’s eyes to move up to his. “My eyes are up here, Victoriano.”

He didn’t think he’d see Ruvik with as flushed a face as he did now. He looked away, putting the food on the table, and sitting just across from Sebastian, and his eyes focused instead on the food. “I am aware of your physical anatomy, Seb.”

“Yeah, I know, with how you were trying to feel me up this morning.” Sebastian went right to eating, ignoring the now cold stare he was getting from Ruvik. It wasn’t staring from adoration or wonder of his body, but one of anger and offense. Ruvik said nothing, and he barely ate - he was more or less poking at his food. Instead of telling him to eat, he just shrugged it off and ate with little thought.

Ruvik took up Sebastian’s plate when he finished, bringing it over to the sink. “Perhaps you will find yourself doing an activity that doesn’t include just reading my books all day,” he commented. “I was rather hoping to have the lounge to myself today, I rather like to play my piano… alone.”

The hint was taken as Sebastian stood up, cracking his neck a little. “You got good places for walks? Or any rooms that I feel pretty good about going to?” The look he got as a response was a cue for Sebastian to leave, and by now he was familiar with a path to his room, where he was quick to get dressed. He felt like covering up as much as he could, after having those cold eyes following his bare skin as they had. He put on his vest, tie, all of it, feeling comfortable wearing multiple layers. When he left the room, he wandered down and opposite hall than his usual, and found himself outside of a grand door. It was a bedroom door, but it looked much nicer than the rest of the bedrooms. He reached out to put his hand on the doorway, to open it, but he recoiled, sighing a little. While he wanted to search the whole house, to peg something about Ruvik that could prove the suspicion winding up in his stomach, he wanted to make sure his snooping was on the up-and-up. If he found something in one of these rooms and presented it to his superiors, they would ask where he got it. When he would tell them he spent the night at Ruvik’s home and went snooping, he would get in trouble, and the evidence would be thrown out, no matter how valuable it was.

He wondered for a moment if Ruvik had the Krimson City police under his thumb, too. His influence on Beacon was obvious, what with how he donated, and that his wanting to get this case over with quickly made the staff far more compliant with the police, he thought of where Ruvik might also have his influence. The police department had donators of their own, but nothing in major sums. A few of them were bribery donations, Sebastian knew that, but others were just rich folk who wanted the police to jail everyone they considered “degenerate”. Whether or not Ruvik was one of those people was unknown.

He continued down the hallway, finding a smaller private lounge. It was lovely, a small table, a dresser, a sofa, and various paintings. It was also partially treated as a storage space, and Sebastian took a few minutes to admire it. Nothing particular about the space. Just nice and quaint and small and comfortable. He wondered if Ruvik spent his time in there often. It was difficult to tell just from looking.

A ringing came throughout the house, alerting Sebastian. It was faint from the room, but he could hear it well enough. It sounded like a phone, and as he walked out to the balcony of the main hall, it stopped, and Ruvik was heard faintly answering it. He went downstairs and found Ruvik turning to look at him, holding out the phone. “It’s for you,” he said. He went into the lounge after that, leaving Sebastian alone to answer.

“Hello?”

“Sebastian, thank god.”

Joseph’s voice caused Sebastian to grow relaxed, a little sigh of relief coming from the detective. His attempts to call Joseph before had proven successful in some manner after all. “Joseph, thank god. I was calling you yesterday, why weren’t you answering?”

“Well I only saw that you called once, how often did you try?”

“A good three or four times.”

“Oh…”

The two spoke briefly about Joseph's position in the case, and Tatiana's history with Ruvik. Sebastian related that there might be more to the basement than he had looked at previously, and the two quickly came to an agreement to look into it when they next had time.

“So when are you going to be back? Why aren't you back yet? What are you even doing there, Sebastian?”

“My car got stolen. I tried to call you yesterday to pick me up, but seeing as you weren't answering, I spent a couple nights here in a guest room. Don't worry, he's not doing anything suspicious. It's been just hanging around his place, reading, doing pretty much nothing. You don't need to pick me up, either. He's having a maid come in today, and I'll be heading back with her.”

The rest of the conversation was brief. Sebastian could tell that Joseph was a little annoyed with him, as though he blamed Sebastian for the poor connection through. There was very little he could do about that. Still, he shrugged it off as they said their final goodbyes, and he shook his head when they hung up. “Jesus, Joseph, always wringing my neck over every little thing…” He hadn't said anything about the physical contact he and Ruvik had during the morning - Joseph would throw a fit over something like that. Sebastian didn't find that much of a concern to relate to his partner.

Most of the day was spent with Sebastian in the library, taking a look at all the inventory. He was impressed with Ruvik's collection, taking a deeper look and focussing on particular set of books. Many seemed irrelevant, but he found mild discomfort in seeing books about a cult that had swept out of the surrounding area years before. They were a hellish group, claiming to follow a widely popular religion, but their sacrificing and disgusting rituals got them nearly wiped out. Thankfully, these books had collected much dust, so whether Ruvik was one invested in it or not, the Victoriano family seemed far gone from its practices.

“Detective.”

Ruvik was in the room, standing at the doorway. His hands were in his pockets, and one thing was particularly different - he wasn't wearing his bandages. His burnt skin were so obvious, painful to look at, but Sebastian continued to look at him when he turned. He didn't want Ruvik to feel self conscious of those burns.

“I see you found my parent's books.” Ruvik walked over, looking at the books with distaste. “Disgusting things. They were so invested… well, my father, Ernesto Victoriano, was. I don't know if it was even close to being my mother's passion. But he would waste so much money on that church…. despicable.”

Sebastian's eyes looked over Ruvik. Every burn looked… almost methodical. It gave him a chill down his spine. Burns were never very thoughtful, they were wild and rampant, causing chaos in every shape or form. He saw evidence one Ruvik's skin that it had started off that way, but he wondered how much of it was self-inflicted… or if, based on his father being in that cult, if anything was done to him when he grew up.

“The church my father was so obsessed with,” Ruvik said suddenly, causing Sebastian to jump, “There were catacombs found underneath it. Vast, almost frighteningly so. Most of it is yet unexplored. Perhaps you could find something there? Maybe one of its many corridors reveal a secret involved with this case. Lord knows those damned people had so many secrets, who knows what they have left behind. The devils….”

Sebastian was surprised to hear such comments from the aristocrat, especially given how closed off he usually was. But it was nice to know that these books weren’t there because of Ruvik’s choice. Why he didn’t get rid of them was strange, however. And the information of the church was something to take note of. “We have a few things we plan on looking into first. I’ll let you know if we need information further about the church.”

“Of course, Seb,” Ruvik said. His voice was lighthearted, but almost tauntingly so. He looked over, and for a moment Sebastian saw a grin on his face and in his eyes. “Whatever pleases you.” He turned away, going to the desk that sat in the middle of the library. He pulled out some papers, making a little humming sound to himself. “Well, my maid should be here any minute. She’ll do her cleaning, then bring you back home… If you’ll excuse me.”

He retreated down the hall of the bedrooms, completely disappearing into one of his rooms, and Sebastian could hear the door locking in the silence. After a few minutes, he heard knocking on the front door. It was impressive, the way the silence carried certain sounds. Sebastian kept by the books, but after a few more knocks, he realized that Ruvik wasn’t coming out of his room any time soon, so he went down to answer instead.

The maid was quiet, but kind, and she had gone about to cleaning right away. Sebastian was surprised she had little surprise for Sebastian being there. He wondered for a moment if Ruvik actually had guests often, and he was just another one that he was unaware of, but when he asked how often she saw anyone in the home she said “Oh, he answers the door then disappears. There’s nobody in the house otherwise. You’re the first soul I’ve seen that isn’t Master Victoriano.”

Sebastian ended up helping the maid to clean. They worked together, and she gave him little odd-jobs, and was highly entertained by making him to some heavy lifting to move the furniture to clean around and under. It had taken a few hours, but Sebastian felt comfortable with it all.

When they finished, the maid was cleaning up her supplies, and Sebastian climbed the stairs, going just outside of Ruvik’s room and knocking. He figured he would remind Ruvik that he was departing, and it felt like a polite gesture to give brief thanks for not just kicking him out on his ass when his car got stolen.

After knocking, the locks were heard, and Ruvik opened the door. He was wearing his bandages again, though the ones on his hands were loose. His eyes were soft, as though he was unable to properly focus his gaze, or to focus his thoughts.

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m heading out,” Sebastian said. “And I wanted to say thank you fo-”

Two hands grab his face, pulling him in so they are centimeters apart. Sebastian, surprised by Ruvik’s boldness, remained still, body tense as he waited for something to happen. He felt Ruvik’s breath ghosting his lips, and their eyes were locked, Sebastian’s full of doubt and Ruvik’s… Sebastian thought they were filled with lust.

“You’re a fascinating creature, Castellanos.”

Sebastian felt lips on his, cold and thin. His eyes grew wide while Ruvik’s closed, thumb caressing Sebastian’s cheek. But it was brief, and then Ruvik pushed Sebastian away, the detective stumbling back to catch his breath. Ruvik just smirked, the door closing, and the locks clicking back into place. Sebastian stood there, staring at the door, where Ruvik stood, and he felt heat in his chest and face as he began to blush. He left, meeting with the maid and helping to finish packing her things into her car, then got in the passengers side.

As they drove away, the maid smiled. “I didn’t realize Master Victoriano had a boyfriend.”

Sebastian nearly slammed his head on the back of his seat.

**“I’m not his boyfriend!”**


	10. Back in the Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took so long to get out there! I admit to partially being really super lazy, but also I'm working on stuff like finals, so I'm scrambling to make sure everything I'm doing gets done and stuff.
> 
> It's also going to be awkward because this summer I won't have a laptop, just my phone. So writing is probably going to be really slow when school gets out in a couple days. Sorry!
> 
> I hope this chapter is good enough for the wait!

Sebastian didn’t go home right away. It wasn’t on his mind to sleep, but to find a way to get the case over and done with so he could excuse himself from having to see Ruvik again. The kiss still stung on his lips, both warm and cold and overall strange. It felt foreign to him. He had kissed people before, many people. He had a wife at a point, for god’s sake. But this kiss felt different, shaking him as he went into the police dept. It was evening by the time he got there, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to see Joseph or Juli. Whether they were present or not, Sebastian didn't find much comfort into going home.

Joseph was at his desk. Sebastian was thankful for that, a little, to be able to talk to someone about their present case. He nudged his partner as he passed to go to his own office, and Joseph, after a moment of being startled, followed him into his office, eyes narrowed and obviously confused about Sebastian's past situation.

“So everything went okay?” Joseph sounded almost accusing, and for a moment Sebastian worried if Joseph knew what had happened. The feeling of the kiss had begun to fade, but now it was back in full force, sending color to Sebastian's cheeks and muddling up his brain as he leaned on his desk to face Joseph. He wasn’t sure if Joseph was aware of his growing blush, but he tried to play it down as best as he could.

“Everything went fine,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “I ended up helping his cleaning lady. She was a tough one, mind you. I had to move all the fucking furniture before she was content that it was clean.”

Joseph’s eyes were narrowed as he stared at Sebastian, who felt as though he had been caught doing something wrong. But he hadn’t been doing anything wrong. Sure, having dinner and getting drunk and staying a few nights at the house of a suspect was wrong, but his car was stolen, in his defense, and not much could have been done about that. Well, besides the dinner and getting drunk, nothing could be done.

“So, did you get anything from him?”

“Sort of,” Sebastian answered. He crossed his arms over his chest, sighing and looking past Joseph and onto the rows of desks outside his office. “More or less, he mentioned a church to me. He said that the place might hold some answers. I don’t know how it would, but it apparently has catacombs. If we think that we need to go there, it wouldn’t kill us to.”

“But that’s probably a long ways from Krimson City, right?”

“Just outside of town, not too far.”

“Well, if we go, it had better have some answers.” Joseph looked like something else was on his mind, and he was definitely about to say it. “Sebastian, are you okay? I come to talk to you about this and your face gets red. That’s not like you.” His eyes were narrowing more, and Sebastian felt as though he were under a spotlight. “What happened while you were there?”

“He was just being cryptic and annoying. I don’t know what to tell you.” He thought of the morning where Ruvik was touching him, the physical contact almost present on Sebastian’s body. It felt like burning hot marks under his clothes, and he felt an unbearable need to itch his neck, his chest, his arms. But he resisted, especially as Joseph stared him down.

Instead he decided to change the subject. “I was thinking that we could head over to Beacon sometime tomorrow,” Sebastian said. He heard his voice jump a little, which caused a brief flash of suspicion in Joseph’s eyes. “I wanted to take a look at the basement a little more. There might be something there we can take note of.”

“You’re not doing anything I should be worried about, are you?”

Sebastian didn’t know how to answer that. He wasn’t doing anything worth worrying over. Ruvik, on the other hand, was messing up Sebastian’s thoughts, confusing him, and taking advantage of every moment he had with the detective. There was tension between a cop and a suspect, one that he wouldn’t admit to Joseph. Sebastian had sexual tension with people in his life before, and he’d always been able to ignore it and handle the situation without anything inappropriate occurring. Why his skill would change now seemed unknown to him.

“I’m not doing anything stupid, Joseph. Come on, you know me.” Those words proved effective, as Joseph had a moment’s look of guilt before nodding. He looked as though he was going to apologize when Juli was outside the door, knocking. After getting a nod of approval from Sebastian, Joseph opened the door, letting Juli in.

“What’s the news, Kidman?”

“If you two are done talking, I wanted to let you know that I was going to take a look into Beacon tonight. I figured it was a good place to start, the space where Miss Gutierrez works. Would you two like to come?”

Sebastian always found relief with Juli. She tended to find good times to jump in, to present information and opportunities that Sebastian was waiting for. “Do we have the authorization?”

“I’ve been working on that for a day,” Juli answered, her smile faint, barely present. “We have full authorization, and I plan on going with or without you two.”

“Brutal honesty,” Sebastian said, standing to his full height and heading to the door. “I can drive if you all want.”

“I can,” Joseph cut in. The two met eyes, and Sebastian relented, knowing that Joseph didn’t trust him yet, though he had been fairly clean with his drinking habits. “I’ll get the car ready and out by the exit. Bring whatever you think we’ll need, Kidman.” He left the room, Sebastian and Juli exchanging skeptical glances.

“He still isn’t keen on you driving, huh?” Juli turned and went out, Sebastian following to help her get supplies. The most they would need were probably flashlights, as the basements were dark and the lighting was always failing in Beacon’s lower floors. “I hope that issue gets resolved sooner than later.”

“You and me both,” Sebastian muttered. He was grabbing the flashlights and Juli was looking over some documents, making little humming sounds as she looked over what Sebastian figured were her notes. “Have you been down there before?”

“Briefly.” Juli shrugged. “I tried to talk to Miss Gutierrez once when interviewing the workers. She wasn’t exactly open to my talking. I had to search  almost the whole basement until I found her. But it was so dark, I barely got a good look at the place.”

The two walked out after a few minutes, Joseph sitting in the car and waiting for them. Sebastian got into the passenger’s seat, Juli climbing into the back. They started off, driving to Beacon in total silence. Sebastian felt as though Joseph was watching him, thinking about what Sebastian could have been doing while he was at Ruvik’s manor. There was a stifling tension in the air, and Sebastian felt relief when they arrived at Beacon. He was the first out of the vehicle, ready to go in and was nearly at the door when Joseph and Juli were just out of the vehicle.

One of the staff led them to the basement, and when they arrived, Tatiana was not present at her spot behind the counter. Sebastian approached it, glancing to see that the door to the back room was closed. He considered going to look inside, but after his encounter with Tatiana before, he didn’t want to do anything that would offend her. He leaned on the counter, resorting to wait, for he didn’t like the idea of going into a dark basement without someone who knew the place better than anyone else.

Juli seemed content to wait as well, standing and looking through some newspapers. Joseph was the only one to seem restless, pacing a little. He seemed unnerved by the lobotomy chair just in the other room, cut off and unused for years. Sebastian saw his eyes cast glances to it, then look away as he resorted to further pacing. “What are we waiting for?” he finally asked. He knew that they were waiting for Tatiana, but it was more of why they weren’t going back to get her.

“Let her come when she wants to,” Juli replied, and, as if on cue, Tatiana entered the room not from the back room but from the hallway. Sebastian jumped, standing straight and coughing to catch her attention, though it was careless and and uncaring of what Sebastian was there for.

“Miss Gutierrez,” Sebastian addressed her, though she passed him with ease, sitting at her spot at the counter. “We’re here to see the basement, if you would be so kind. I’m sure your superiors told you we were coming?”

Tatiana nodded, a little humming sound coming from her throat. She looked at her nails with boredom, which made Sebastian, Joseph and Juli exchange uncertain glances. None of them were sure what to say - demanding something of Tatiana might send the woman to disappear, to hide away in the back room.

To their surprised, Tatiana leaned down and pulled an old fashioned lantern from under the counter. It seemed appropriate for something like the old wing, and as she lit it, walking once more past the trio and going to the hall that led to the staircase. One was the doors that led to go upstairs, the other side was descending stairs into darkness. Tatiana walked down into the dark, being quickly engulfed by it as she moved down each step.

Sebastian passed out their own flashlights, and they followed after her. Their flashlights seemed to barely pierce the pitch blackness. Sebastian himself felt almost suffocated, surprised that he could feel this much discomfort and pressure on his chest. He glanced to see if Juli and Joseph were feeling this weighted. Juli seemed calm, and ended up turning off her flashlight, as it was doing no real good for them. Somehow, Tatiana’s lantern was able to cast a perfect light to the area, revealing old crates and rooms and boxes, but each room was sealed off, and Sebastian thought they looked like old patient’s rooms. When he looked at Joseph, he felt sick. Joseph, while pretending to be collected, was obviously in a sweat, a look in his eyes that Sebastian didn’t like. His hand was a little shaky, holding his flashlight as though it was his only sense of security. All the flashlights ended up turned off but Joseph’s. Sebastian didn’t plan on saying anything to him - he looked like he needed that light.

Tatiana brought them to a large storage room, in which Tatiana stood in the center, illuminating the whole room dimly. “This is the only place that isn’t permanently sealed off,” she said. She had firmly planted her feet in that spot, and the trio began to look around the room, unsure exactly of what they were looking for. Sebastian knew that the killer had gone down here, according to Tatiana’s testimony, but where the killer could have gone and why was yet unknown.

The shelves were littered with various medical items, most of them no longer allowed to be in use. Sebastian found it distasteful that instead of finding somewhere to properly dispose of the items, the hospital instead chose to shove them all in the downstairs and pretend as though their gory history did not exist. There was blood on the tools, on the shelves. They were old and disgusting, the stench long gone from the room, but Sebastian could still think of the lingering scent from his time working.

“Do you two see anything?” he asked.

Juli was shuffling through some boxes, pushing them aside to get a look behind them. “Nothing yet.” She let out a sigh, almost as though she was hoping that they would find some answers with little to no issues. Sebastian looked over at Joseph, who was looking through some shelves on the opposite end of the room.

“Joseph,” he addressed his partner. “Have you found anything?”

Joseph didn’t answer, and Sebastian noticed that his body was tense. Careful not to startle him, Sebastian approached and stood beside him, tapping his shoulder with care. Joseph jumped, looking over with slightly dazed eyes. He looked ill, almost confused, and began to grow relaxed at Sebastian’s close presence. “Everything going okay, Joseph?”

“Y-Yeah…” He stood a moment, then shook his head. “Well, no.”

Before Sebastian could ask more, Joseph turned and began to shuffle through items on the shelf again, closely examining each. Every time he picked up an item, he looked as though he was shaking, and Sebastian wondered if Joseph had a bad experience with old hospitals. He knew a lot about Joseph, but the way he looked then, he wasn’t so sure he knew all of Joseph’s history.

“Hey, over here.”

Juli was at one of the far walls, one that was made of old brick and stone. Her eyes were lit up with accomplishment, and Sebastian and Joseph both approached to take a look. Upon closer inspection, a small, torn cloth was wedged between a few bricks. It stuck out a little, and Sebastian was able to pull it out more to get a better look. It was stained with blood, rather old, and Sebastian had a feeling that it was from the night of the murders. There wasn’t much cloth, and no symbols or shapes that could signify any sense of understanding.

“What do you make of it?” Juli said.

“I don’t know why it’s down here,” Sebastian said, “But it definitely explains why Tatiana saw the killer come by this way. Why it’s in the stones here, though…” Sebastian tried to get his grip between two bricks, tugging to see if it would break loose, but it was firm in its place. He wasn’t surprised, as the basement was underground.

“Should we head back up?” Joseph’s voice was quiet and frail. “I think Sebastian and I should head back to the bureau and log it.”

Nodding, the trio turned to Tatiana, who was still looking bored as she held the lantern up for them. “Find everything you were searching for?” she said. Her voice was nearly a whisper, barely an echo in the old room. Sebastian felt a shiver of discomfort from it.

“We might have to come back and take a look another day,” he said. “But I think we’ve gotten some of what we need. Thank you, Miss Gutierrez.”

Joseph had grown back to his normal self as they climbed up to the main parts of the hospital, though he was still overly eager to get out of the place. He went ahead to go and get the vehicle, and Juli was going to speak to the new heads of the hospital about the downstairs and that it was still a place of interest to them. Sebastian, instead of following either of them, went to visit Leslie, to see if he could get anything else from the boy.

It took some time to get admitted clearance, but eventually he sat in a small, dull room with Leslie, who was sitting on the floor with his legs trapped by his arms. He was looking up at Sebastian, not with fear but almost with curiosity, as though Sebastian was something he valued and welcomed.

“Sebastian… Sebastian…”

“Yes, Leslie, that’s my name…” Instead of sitting at the table, Sebastian crouched down to be as eye level with Leslie as possible. The boy seemed to respond, body becoming relaxed as they looked at each other. “Leslie, are you feeling any better?”

“Any better… any better…”

“Leslie, can you tell me what happened that night? Are you able to?”

“Happened that night… Happened… that…”

Leslie’s eyes got wide. He was looking past Sebastian, but there was nothing there when Sebastian looked. When he looked back to Leslie, the boy seemed to be in distress. He was biting his nails, mumbling things Sebastian couldn’t hear between his fingers. “Leslie, what’s wrong? I need you to try to tell me what’s wrong as best as you can.”

“Gonna kill him.”

The words were out of character, and the choice of words caused Sebastian to grow alert. “What was that?”

“Gonna kill him… gonna kill him…” Leslie began to curl up, his voice getting louder. “Gonna kill him… Gonna… gonna kill him!”

“Who? Leslie, who is going to kill, who is going to kill who?”

Leslie looked up with terrified eyes. Sebastian, for a moment, thought that he looked like a little mouse, afraid and gentle and beautiful.

**“Ruvik.”**


	11. Security

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short...! It had to be kind of short, but I hope that's okay!!

The drive to Ruvik’s manor was rushed. He was infuriated on the phone just before Sebastian arrived, because Sebastian had called, told him he would be showing up, and didn’t let Ruvik get a word of protest in. Whether Ruvik didn’t like Sebastian showing up without schedule, he didn’t care.

It was uncomfortable in Sebastian’s mind that it hadn’t even been a full day since they kissed. Or since Ruvik kissed him… But he didn’t have time to think of it. He had gotten dropped off at the police depo, had taken a police car, and was on his way to Ruvik’s at that moment.

What had Leslie meant by his words? It was obviously a warning, but how Ruvik fit in was uncertain. Knowing that Ruvik was at home was reassuring though. Sebastian would be there to either stop someone from killing Ruvik, or would be present to stop Ruvik from killing someone. Either way it was ideal. Joseph knew he was going, and while he wanted to go with, Sebastian left without him, and left him a note to make sure he stayed away. Ruvik hated groups of cops, and Sebastian wanted Ruvik to be calm instead of emotional and aggressive during a situation such as this.

When Ruvik answered the door, he was none too pleased. “What the hell are you doing at my home without permission?” He wasn’t letting Sebastian into the manor, eyes flashing with rage when Sebastian expressed that he wanted to. “Get the hell away from here, I don’t want you in my home without my permission! This is what calling ahead is for, you stupid police officer!”

Sebastian crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head. “Ruvik, I received information that your safety might be at risk.” He wasn’t going to detail it, and based on the expression the aristocrat had on his face, he knew Sebastian wouldn’t say much either. “I’m not going to invade your home and look around and trash the place. But I want to make sure you’re safe and out of harm’s way until I know that the issue is resolved.”

Ruvik’s composure suddenly changed. His body relaxed, and a small smirk came to his lips. “The big, bad detective wants to make sure I’m safe?” His voice was taunting, a small hum, one that caused Sebastian to feel uncomfortable as he stood there. “Fine. You can enter. But don’t think I’ll be happy about it.”

He turned away, and Sebastian walked in. By now it was pure instinct for the detective to kick off his shoes, though he still didn’t feel good about losing them. Ruvik was climbing the staircase, pausing halfway up to look down at him. “I have papers that I need to finish in my office,” he said. “Please do not interrupt me. You can try to peek in and listen to me signing papers all you want, if you’re paranoid, but do not enter or interrupt.”

He disappeared, leaving Sebastian alone in the foyer. The detective, to make sure that there weren’t any dangers within the house, began to go through each room, checking briefly as he went. Each room was empty, dull, just as he remembered. Very little had been changed since he had cleaned during the morning, and soon he was upstairs and going through each room. When he passed by Ruvik’s office, he checked in to see that the aristocrat was indeed at his desk, glasses perched on his nose as he leaned over papers, the sound of his pen scratching paper filling the silence.

Each room was unlocked, which surprised Sebastian, as he began to go through the hallways. He found the spare room he had slept in, and it looked as though he had never been in there, not a single trace of previous life. One room was terribly used - Sebastian figured it was Ruvik's room. It was littered with papers, the bed unmade, and it was in need of a good cleaning. That was where Ruvik had held himself up when the maid was cleaning. Obviously this place remained untouched by anyone that wasn't the man who slept in it. Every other room was dull, empty, generic and boring, and Sebastian ignored each after a quick sweep. Various bedrooms, it was strange - Ruvik never had guests, he had no need for so many rooms.

One of the rooms was strangely out of character. Sebastian opened it, and thought that it looked used, but had been untouched for a long time. The vanity was covered in dust, but the bed looked loosely made, as though someone was in a rush to clean. He walked in, looking around the room. The closet was half open, revealing beautiful dresses and gowns. “What…”

Instead of looking further into the room, Sebastian decided it would be a polite gesture to leave the room. He did a quick scan of every other room, then decided that the place was secure. Sebastian went downstairs, settling himself in the lounge for a little while. He looked over each windows, checking their locks and how secure it was. He accidently broke one of the locks, and made a reminder that he would have to make a loose tie around it to keep the window secure. He wasn't sure if Ruvik had anything that could do that, but it was a good enough to ask.

The large piano in the back room of the lounge was something Sebastian found himself inspecting. It looked mostly unused, though he knew that Ruvik would play it when he felt the need to. When that would occur, Sebastian had no idea. The insides of the piano were in near perfect condition - it was at the prime of its life.

Returning to the main section of the lounge, Sebastian felt a breeze blow through the room. He wasn't sure if it was from the window he broke, or if the home had a draft that he didn't notice before. Loosening his tie, he went over to the fireplace to take a look at it. The space was vacant, spotless, it looked as though it hadn't been used in years. Just like everything in this fucking place, Sebastian thought to himself. He kneeled down, grabbing some of the wood from the pile of logs that had since collected dust beside the grand fireplace. He put some in, trying to form them neatly, settling them around a fire started that had been sitting in there for god knows how long.

His lighter did the trick right away. Though he had managed to stop smoking so bad, he was finding himself thankful that he carried the lighter out of habit. The flames kicked up quickly, a nice fire warming Sebastian as he continued to crouch by it. He pulled out his phone, sending a quick message to Joseph letting him know that so far the manor was clear, and that he would let him know if he needed backup in case something happened.

The sound of the door caused Sebastian to turn his head, Ruvik entering the room. He was still looking through papers, but he seemed content with the progress he made, as he looked up at Sebastian. “So what is it that you...”

The scream that tore from Ruvik's throat was shocking. His thin frame flinched back, eyes wide with horror and fear. He backed up, papers falling to his feet, and he ended up pressed against the wall, his cries filling the room. He slid to a sitting position, curling up in on himself, his yelling muffled. Sebastian stood there in surprise before reacting. He ran to the kitchen, getting a glass of water. He got back and put the fire out, then turned to see what Ruvik was doing. He was sitting there almost limp, trembling and sounds of broken sobbing came from the aristocrat.

Sebastian's approach was careful, and he ended up sitting beside Ruvik, a hand rubbing his back. Ruvik shrunk away from him, but only a little, submitting to Sebastian's comforting touch. “I'm sorry, Ruvik, I just… I forgot.”

His pale eyes looked up at Sebastian from being hidden behind his arms. He was trembling, weak and almost afraid, and he began to mumble, very clearly, though it wasn't quite directed as Sebastian, “You did this to us… you did this to us...”

For a moment, Sebastian could only think of Leslie, and how he looked when he was frightened and mumbling. Small, frail, gentle, beautiful, and Sebastian's chest filled with pity. He pulled Ruvik close to his chest, and though he was being careful with him, he could feel Ruvik tense and hear the sharp intake of breath. He took a deep breath, then picked up Ruvik, holding him to his chest in his arms. He was lighter than Sebastian expected, but then he wasn't sure why he was expecting him to be heavier. From what he saw, the man barely ate, barely did anything of physical exertion.

He carried Ruvik upstairs and into the room he figured was Ruvik's. The man didn't protest, and Sebastian lied him down carefully, watching the man curl in on himself as he lied there. He stood there a moment, then gave a gentle pet to Ruvik's head. “I'll be just outside if you need me,” Sebastian murmured. He felt Ruvik nod a little against his palm. He stepped out, finding a chair from the library and settling it down just beside the door. He made sure his gun was in his hand, and he looked along both hallways. It was dark, and Sebastian felt a weight on his shoulders, as though everything was his responsibility.

There would be no sleep tonight.


	12. What Would a Killer Do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a chapter I'm okay with but kind of "eh" about.
> 
> But the nEXT CHAPTER IS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITING FOR FINALLY.
> 
> YESSSSSSSSSSSSS.
> 
> But as it is summer, things will go by really slow for my writing. I don't have a good computer, just a phone, so when I write on my phone I usually have a hard time with it. I hope that's okay. I'll try my best to work on it when I can.

The sound of the door wasn’t what woke him up. The sound of Ruvik’s voice calling his name wasn’t what pulled him from sleep, either. It was the feeling of cold fingers on his cheek. His eyes opened to Ruvik’s cold ones close to his, a small smirk on his lips as his fingers ran down Sebastian’s jaw. Sebastian was going to make a sound of surprise, but his mouth was caught in a very brief kiss, almost a ghost of it. He flinched back, head slamming against the wall. He cried out, glaring at Ruvik, who stepped back and grinned.

“Well, good morning detective,” Ruvik said, arms crossing over his chest. He had amusement in his eyes, and Sebastian’s cheeks began to turn red as Ruvik licked his lips, obviously still admiring their brief kiss.

“We fucking talked about this,” Sebastian said, wiping his mouth as he stood up. “The watching me as I sleep, touching me - kissing me now - that’s inappropriate and I won’t have any of that.” He shook his head, and turned and began to walk away down the hallway. “I don’t think it really matters detective, with how you behaved so poorly last night.”

The flames and screaming came to Sebastian’s mind. The horror on Ruvik’s face yesterday burned in Sebastian’s mind, and he sighed and followed Ruvik down the hallway. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice full of guilt. “I forgot that you were… Afraid of that. I’m sorry for it.”

Ruvik ignored him, only a small hum coming from his throat. He went through the library and out into the main hall, going down to the kitchens to make breakfast. Sebastian followed, arms stretching over his head as he felt tension leave his back. He usually didn’t sleep on chairs. The fact that he fell asleep at all made him frustrated. He didn’t remember when it happened, but he was fairly certain that he was at least up most of the night, anyway.

Sebastian managed to get Ruvik to sit down and let him make breakfast, a sort of gesture of apology. He made omelettes, Ruvik waiting patiently at the table for him. Sebastian was getting used to it - breakfast at the small table in the kitchen. He didn’t like being used to it, though it was a minor comfort in a time of stress and worry over a case that had yet to be solved.

“Now, I just have some questions, they’re pretty standard,” Sebastian said. “I just need to know about your general safety, and how secure you think your home is.”

Ruvik didn’t seem thrilled at the idea of questions, but seemed to submit. He looked tired, as though he had his own restless night. Sebastian couldn’t blame him - his reaction to the small fire had been surprising to see, and exhausting for both of them.

“Do you know anyone that might want to hurt you?”

“Oh yes, millions of people.” The sarcasm was heavy in his tone, and Sebastian made a small grunt of annoyance in response. “Only the people who want my fortune, Seb. For anyone significant, I cannot think of a soul.”

Sebastian nodded, taking a moment to eat some of his omelette before speaking again. “How do you think the security of your home is? Anything about the manor that you might be worried about? The windows aren’t too bad, from what I’ve gotten to see, but if you have anything else…”

“The windows are my first concern.” Ruvik’s eyes got dull as he spoke. “Thieves are always breaking through them, as you recall. Windows are the easiest way for someone to get into here. Thankfully, the main doors are the only way in and out in the sense of an actual entrance. They are hard to open, and the locks are very strong and difficult to pick.”

That much about the doors seemed reassuring. “So there’s no other way into the manor but the door and breaking windows?”

“Are you implying something, detective?” Ruvik’s voice was a tad defensive, dark as he sat up straight. “I don’t appreciate feeling attacked like this. I didn’t even welcome you into my home. I don’t care if this is an emergency, I demand respect while you are in my household.”

Raising his hands in a gesture of peace, Sebastian shook his head. “Okay, anyway… Is the manor the only thing on the property, or is there anywhere a thief or a killer could go to hide and wait?”

“I have a tool shed far in the woods,” Ruvik answered. “But it’s been unused for fifteen years or so. It just holds gardening tools and the like." He shrugged, thinking about its contents.

"Anything noteworthy that someone might want from there?"

"Well, the excess barbed wire for my fences stays in there. That’s all, besides the typical garden tools."

There had been barbed wire at the crime scene, Sebastian recalled. The remains of the mutilated doctors had been wrapped up in it - likely tortured and tied up in the sharp wires. And knowing that Ruvik had barbed wire stored up on his property made Sebastian itch to call Joseph, to tell him what he found out.

Thankfully, Sebastian didn’t have to give a reason to call. The phone rang quietly in the distance, and Ruvik stood up to go and answer it. After a few minutes, Ruvik returned, a dark look on his face. He was obviously unhappy with who was calling, and that caused Sebastian to feel even more relief. “You ought to tell your partner to wait until he next speaks to you in person,” he commented, sitting down to eat his food. “I don’t like him, and having him call my manner like this is very upsetting.”

Instead of making some snide remark about Ruvik’s dislike for Joseph, Sebastian just stood and went to the little phone, and when he answered, he decided he would tell Joseph now instead of later about Ruvik’s set of barbed wire. He felt a tightness in his stomach as he left his host, and he was feeling certain that Ruvik either was the killer or was heavily involved in the killings.

“Joseph,” he addressed his partner as he got on the line. “I have so-”

“Hold on that Sebastian,” Joseph interrupted. There was a tone to his voice that Sebastian didn’t like. “Listen, Seb. Kidman was growing certain that Doctor Jimenez was involved with the murders. She was going to go and see him, to ask more questions. I called you because Marcelo is dead.”

“What?” Sebastian raised a brow. “Dead? What happened?”

“Kidman found him just outside the hospital. He wasn’t at his home address, so she went there and he was dead. Looks like he has been for hours. They found a scalpel there, and he was tied up with barbed wire, just like the other victims. Only this time he wasn’t torn apart. It was pretty thought out. Like really thought out. All of his major organs were removed. He’s like an empty shell.”

Sebastian bit his lip in thought, shaking his head. He knew Joseph wouldn’t interrupt his thinking for the next minute or two. While Sebastian had fallen asleep, he had been awake for most of the night, Ruvik couldn’t have gotten by him so easy. They were on an upper floor, it would have been hazardous for Ruvik to try to get out from a window. Not to mention that Krimson City was miles away, and Ruvik had no clue how to drive. “Can I put you on hold for just a few minutes?”

“Sure.”

Sebastian ran out to his car. It was in the same spot it was, morning dew all over it. He hadn’t taken that car. When he went to the one vehicle that Ruvik owned, it was obviously unused, and he looked it over to make sure that such an observation was correct. Confident that the vehicles were in check, Sebastian went back inside.

He remembered the words that Leslie had said the previous day, however, and uncertainty still lingered in his chest. “Gonna kill him” and “Ruvik” were clear, and Sebastian wished that he could get more answers from Leslie. He was certain that Ruvik was the killer, but as of yet, he had no proof to actually say anything.

Getting back to the phone, Sebastian and Joseph spoke a moment’s greeting. “Everything checks out here,” Sebastian said. “Ruvik has no way of getting to Krimson City without assistance. There’s no way he could have done it. And I was fucking here.”

“I know, but… It’s so strange.”

Sebastian nodded a little to himself. “I know… this is absolutely fucked, but we can only just work on solving it. Where are you right now?”

“I’m at the station, I’m going to head out to look at the scene when we’re done here.”

“Good, good… Head out, and I’m going to wrap things up here. I’m still suspicious there might be a safety issue, and I want to make sure there aren’t any possible signs that I could find against Ruvik. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way back.”

“Don’t spend too much time there, Sebastian,” Joseph said, his voice quiet. “I don’t think you should be visiting him this much… It’s not good for you.”

“I know… I know…”

When they hung up, Sebastian went back to the kitchen. Ruvik was done with his meal and was cleaning his plate, his head turning slightly when he heard Sebastian walk in. “What was the call for? Was he being annoying like usual?”

“Well, actually, Doctor Marcelo Jimenez is dead.”

Ruvik jerked up, eyes wide. “Doctor… Jimenez?” He turned away, looking with blank eyes at his dishes. He continued to clean them, shaking his head and letting out a deep sigh. “That man helped me a lot during my time growing up and dealing with these… burns.” He set aside a few dishes, leaning against the counter now. “However, I can’t say that I am upset by his passing…”

Sebastian had sat down and began to eat again, but he paused, looking up at Ruvik, who was looking at him with thoughtful eyes. “And why is that?”

“Have you seen the bruises on his patient, Leslie Withers?” Ruvik said. “I know Jimenez’s methods. He isn’t exactly a loving doctor. His methods are unconventional, rather frowned upon. He was never able to become the true head of Beacon because of it. Everyone, even I, rejected those methods, and he remained a lowly doctor. Unfortunately, he took his anger out on Leslie, poor boy… The world is better without a monster like him, I can assure you of that.”

Whether it was a partial confession, or just an expression of distaste, Sebastian didn’t like how Ruvik was taking the news… positively. “Won’t this be a blow to Beacon? Create issues for them and you?”

“Yes, it will. I won’t act as though this has no financial loss to me. But I won’t pretend as though my personal gratefulness that someone decided to end Jimenez’s life doesn’t exist, Seb.”

The two sat there in silence, Sebastian finishing his breakfast and Ruvik watching him. They were looking at each other, and for some reason, a sort of calm came over Sebastian, who visibly relaxed as they looked at each other.

“Well, I’ll head out in a little bit then,” Sebastian muttered.

Ruvik walked over, and his hand was barely touching Sebastian’s shoulder, running from one to the other, causing the detective to shiver a little. “Oh? You won’t stay for dinner? I want to thank you for the hard work you’ve been doing on this case, detective Castellanos. Would you honor me with another dinner?”

Sebastian wanted to say no. It was on his tongue, that one word, and how badly he wanted to say it.

**“Sure, why not?”**


	13. Take Me to the Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suuuuuuuuper short. But it needs to be. You know why. THIS IS WHAT I WAS WAITING FOR. And I managed to write it all out already.
> 
> I would totally make it longer. But I'm lazy. And I'm content with what I wrote. OHHH YES I AM.

This whole situation was making Sebastian nervous. He was sitting close with Ruvik, the two eating and speaking of light conversations. Ruvik was fairly good with small talk, Sebastian was surprised with that much, but he wasn’t certain that Ruvik was very personal with the conversations. A few times Sebastian had to stop Ruvik’s hands from wandering, threatening to leave if he tried again. But every threat was empty, as he never left. He found himself getting closer, and it made him uncomfortable that he was.

“Would you like another drink, Seb?”

Sebastian was thinking about his limits, about his boundaries. “No, I shouldn’t,” he said. “Especially if I plan on driving home. I can’t have a repeat of what happened last time.”

Ruvik made a small humming noise, filling up his own drink thoughtfully as he looked at Sebastian. “Wise choice,” he commented. “The last situation was definitely not ideal… however, your car hasn’t been stolen yet, so I would think you would have a better chance of waking up with a hangover and being otherwise fine to drive in the morning.”

One of Ruvik’s hands wandered again, Sebastian felt it settle on his knee. He nudged it away, but the hand remained. He tried to ignore it, he didn’t want to make a scene of it. “I would rather show up to work on time and not have my partner throw a hissy fit.”

“But, based on how much you’ve been working, and how often you’ve had to deal with me,” Ruvik flashed him a devious grin. “You should deserve to have one or two more drinks.”

Sebastian sighed, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe he was subjecting himself to this. “Fine, only one more,” he said. Ruvik poured him a drink, smirking as Sebastian took a drink. From what was visible of Ruvik’s face, he was slightly flushed, already on his way to a drunken stupor, though Sebastian suspected that Ruvik could control himself and have no more for drinks.

“So do you want to go and see the church I spoke of?” Ruvik asked. “I can take you. I’ll even take your partners to the place. They have these lovely catacombs, I’m sure you’ll love it down there. It’s like a big maze…”

Ruvik had leaned in close, and he looked as though he wanted to kiss Sebastian, who slightly scooted away from him. Sebastian thought about going to visit the church, but he wasn’t sure where Joseph or Juli stood on that. “I’m not going to answer for my partners,” he said. “I’ll have to speak to them, see what our next steps are. That’s going to have to be something you’re okay with.”

Ruvik pouted, but nodded and slid away a little from him. He looked a little irritated, sighing as he looked at Sebastian. The detective thought that the look in his host’s eyes was that of obsession, of a want, one that made Sebastian’s skin crawl.

“So, they had found another scalpel at the crime scene, where Jimenez died,” Sebastian said. “I suspect it is probably the twin of the the two that you lost.” Ruvik just nodded boredly, a hand moving up and playing with a lock of Sebastian’s hair. The detective swatted his hand away, causing the aristocrat to smirk again. “How did they get stolen? Aren’t they pretty secure?”

“Oh, I had left them out one day…” Ruvik shrugged, shaking his head. “Thieves break in all the time, I told you. Only get as far as the living room, thankfully.”

Sebastian raised a brow. “You left them in the living room?”

Ruvik met his gaze, almost offended. “Of course not. They were by their display, I just had them on the desk to clean and…”

They stared at each other for a long time, and Ruvik looked a little dumbfounded. Sebastian felt a tightness in his chest. He just found a hole in Ruvik’s story.

Opening his mouth to speak, Sebastian was going to call out the blunder, when Ruvik took his drink, downed it, then looked at Sebastian and smiled. He leaned in close, their lips almost touching, silencing the detective. Ruvik was practically in Sebastian’s seat, humming a little as the hand playing with Sebastian’s hair had gone up into the dark locks, cold fingers running along his scalp.

“Do you dance, Seb?”

The question was out of the blue, the closeness causing Sebastian to forget what he was going to say. Ruvik’s eyes were so close, and he couldn’t think of anything else but how beautiful they were, how they gleamed and were rather attractive. He gulped, closing his eyes for a moment before answering. “No, I don’t. Not really interested.”

“You’re not?” Ruvik stood up, and pulled Sebastian to his feet. “Well I like to dance. Come to the lounge and dance with me, I can teach you.”

Their hands were clasped together. Sebastian swallowed again, looking at the way their hands interlocked. When he looked up at Ruvik, he felt nervous. It wasn’t a frightened nervous, it was almost the nervousness he felt when he had gone on his first day, the nervousness he felt when he had first begun a relationship with Myra. Ruvik was attractive, and whether the drink was influencing him at that moment or not, he wasn’t sure. He just nodded, and followed as Ruvik led him to the lounge, where he put on some quiet, lovely music that filled up the room.

Approaching Sebastian, Ruvik took Sebastian’s hands. He pulled one of Sebastian’s hands to his waist. Their opposite hands were pressed tight together, Ruvik’s free hand sliding along Sebastian’s shoulder. “It’s an easy thing, dancing,” Ruvik’s voice was hushed, eyes looking up at Sebastian with what the detective could only interpret as lust. “You just have to focus…”

They began to move, and Sebastian regretted agreeing to dancing. He tried to copy Ruvik, who was leading, showing Sebastian the steps. One step, two step, back, and Sebastian tried not to fall. He was fairly good at avoiding stepping on Ruvik’s feet, and he got a little annoyed when he saw that the aristocrat was grinning at how clumsy he was.

They began to fall into motion, and Sebastian felt Ruvik get closer, their chests nearly touching as they pressed close. They moved as one, each motion fluid, each step intentional and beautiful. Sebastian wondered how they looked from a different perspective. Did they look like a clumsy mess, or did they look as gracious as he imagined?

The song ended, and they stopped moving, looking at each other in the long silence before the next song began to play. Ruvik smiled, then nudged Sebastian’s foot with his own. “You lead now,” he murmured. “It’s easy. You control where the steps go. Just follow the pattern, you’ll do fine…”

Ruvik leaned up, his mouth close to Sebastian’s ear. The warm puffs of breath against Sebastian’s skin caused the detective’s grip to tighten on Ruvik’s waist, which was the last thing he was expecting to do. “Control the dance, Seb. Control me.”

They began again, Sebastian taking his time with each step while staying in time. Ruvik was practically leaning against Sebastian, moving in time with him but pressing as close as humanly possible. It was amazing that they were this close. It was as though the case had fallen away, all the inhibitions of a suspect-cop relationship were gone. They were two people who had something between them, one that Sebastian could tell Ruvik wanted to figure it out. Sebastian found himself wanting to figure it out too.

He wasn’t sure how it happened. His arms ended up around Ruvik’s waist. They weren’t dancing anymore. Ruvik’s arms were over Sebastian’s shoulders, one rubbing his back, the other in his hair. Their mouths were locked together, eyes closed, Ruvik making such beautiful sounds into Sebastian’s mouth. He wanted to hear more of those sounds.

He wasn’t sure where it would go. They had fallen onto the sofa. Ruvik was under him, still kissing him, and he began to tug on Sebastian’s vest, undoing it and dragging it off the detective. He pulled at the tie next, and began to undo various buttons on his shirt. Cold hands touched Sebastian’s skin, and he remembered when Ruvik first touched him and he shook.

They broke the kiss to catch their breath, eyes filled with want as they looked at each other. Carefully, Ruvik reached up and began to undo the bandages that were on his body. They fell away, and Sebastian could see a moment of doubt as he lied there, burns exposed, looking like his true self under the detective. Instead of feeling revolted, Sebastian kissed spots of the burns, only stopping when he heard a small hiss from the man under him. He caught Ruvik’s mouth in another kiss, only to break it again when a cold hand went down his trousers.

Ruvik looked up at him, and said four words that caused Sebastian to move for his neck, to pull at Ruvik’s clothes, to escalate their contact even further.

**“You should be mine.”**


	14. Innocence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLLYYYYYY.
> 
> I think it's pretty short. I'm writing on my phone so... Yeah it's probably super short.
> 
> This is dedicated to a dear friend. >u> You know who you are.

Sebastian felt like Ruvik wanted to consume him. He stood there, his shirt off from his shoulders but still holding onto him, as he was still in his sleeves. Ruvik's mouth was crushed against his, the aristocrat's legs around his waist and Sebastian's hands on his ass. They that tried to get moving up to the bedroom, and were in the foyer when Ruvik got too eager and pretty much jumped on him.

"R... Ruvik... Wait a sec..."

The smaller man began to ravage Sebastian's neck, the bites and licks causing the detective to groan, his head tilting back. His hands pulled Ruvik's body closer, grinding his already hard cock against Ruvik's ass through their pants. The gasp he received from Ruvik made him shiver - he wanted more.

"Just... Mm... Just give me a minute to get us upstairs..."

One of the arms over Sebastian's shoulders slid down and began to to Sebastian's belt. Ruvik sagged against him, and Sebastian had to hold him with more force now, gasping when Ruvik managed to undo his trousers and pull his cock free. Freezing cold hands felt along the length, and Sebastian shook, making a noise that caused Ruvik to chuckle. "Then go upstairs."

Carrying Ruvik while he was essentially getting a handjob was difficult. His member twitched against Ruvik's hand, eager to be touched. Ruvik was now biting Sebastian's ear, leaving the detective in a daze as he managed to climb up the staircase. "Does my Sebastian like this?"

He could only nod.

He began to shuffle them to one of the doors. The library was closer to Ruvik's room, or at least he thought so. His brain was so consumed by the idea of sex he could only imagine what Ruvik would look like naked on a bed, calling his name...

Ruvik began to squirm against Sebastian as he managed to open the door to the library. His hand was gone from the detective's cock, leaving him wanting. But before Sebastian could ask what Ruvik was doing, he heard axsmall thump. Pausing, he looked down to see that Ruvik's trousers were gone. He was using the hand that had previously been touching Sebastian to prep himself, using Sebastian's prefluids as a sort of lubricant.

Sebastian couldn't walk. He stared in awe as Ruvik prepped himself, hanging there against Sebastian's chest. He was moaning quietly, eyes meeting Seb's now. Ruvik's parted lips were so beautiful, a small trail of saliva on his jaw from their kissing, and now this.

"You know I was going to prep you right?"

Ruvik made a little noise of acknowledgement, but nothing more. His hand came up, and Ruvik's hands interlocked behind Sebastian's head as he shifted. Sebastian frowned, watching Ruvik wiggle around, until he felt an overwhelming heat around his cock. It was tight, so amazingly tight, and Sebastian felt hear surge to his groin in pleasure as he let out a groan. "Oh fuck..."

Ruvik's moan was louder than his own. His eyes were wide, back arching so they were closer together, and he was panting and shaking in Sebastian's arms. "Seb.... S....Seb..."

Sebastian slowly began to walk to the bedroom when he began to feel Ruvik roll his hips. The first motion caused them both to moan - though Ruvik's was less controlled. He felt Ruvik begin to roll and buck on his cock as he held him, and Sebastian had to stop and press him to a wall, hands sliding along Ruvik's legs and waist.

"Fuck me, Seb...!" Ruvik's voice was airy, lust thick on his tone. "Fuck me now... Mm...!"

Sebastian's hips began to move, his cock sliding into Ruben to the hilt, almost painfully slow. The two made sounds of pleasure together, Sebastian kissing Ruvik's neck as Ruvik wiggled his hips in joy.

They began slow at first. Sebastian had set a more gentle pace - though Ruvik hadn't outright said, Sebastian figured he was a virgin. He certainly felt like one. The sounds that came from Ruvik's throat, they almost made Sebastian dizzy. He felt hands all over his skin, Ruvik groaning his name. The tight heat around his cock, the feeling of his insides convulsing around him, he began to attack Ruvik's neck to stop himself from matching Ruvik's sounds.

"More.... More....!"

It felt like an addiction for Sebastian. Hearing Ruvik's voice like that, it almost felt like relief. His hips snapped forward, causing the aristocrat to let out an elated cry. Nails dug into Sebastian's back and shoulders, but he could hear the small "yes" that came from Ruvik, and he continued to pound into the other.

"Sebastian... Sebastian... Mine... Mine...!"

Sebastian felt a warm, wet heat on his ear. It felt good, the biting and licking that Ruvik gave, and his grip tightened on Ruvik's hips. He managed to pull away a little, looking at his partner. The sight was gorgeous. What skin on his face wasn't burnt was a bright red, his eyes rolling up, mouth gaping as he was lost in the sensations. "Sebastian.... Ahh... Mine... Mine... Mine... Mine..."

"God, you're being so fucking hot..."

Their lips met in a hot kiss, Ruvik moaning into Sebastian's mouth as Sebastian pressed deep into him. After a few strong thrusts, Ruvik's back arched, and he broke the kiss in another cry. "Right there...! Seb, just like that..."

Sebastian stopped thrusting, earning an angry noise from Ruvik, who wiggled his hips. "Keep moving..." He whined. "Don't stop, Seb... I'm so close..."

Pulling Ruvik against him, he began to walk again, kicking the door to the bedroom open. Ruvik was still annoyed, but seemed relieved when they stumbled on the bed together. "Seb..."

His hands ran through Sebastian's hair, gripping tight to the dark locks as Sebastian kissed his neck. The detective bit down, pulling a long groan from the aristocrat. "Don't wait," Ruvik hissed, trying to move his hips to get Sebastian to start.

Sitting up, the detective looked down at him, raising a brow. "You really can't wait for this can you?"

"Not after you gave me a taste in the hallway," Ruvik replied. He looked embarrassed that he was so weak, and Sebastian smirked before leaning down and pulling Rucik into a kiss, then began to fuck him again. This time it was none too gentle, and the kiss was broken by Ruvik, who gripped the sheets under himself tight.

"Oh fuck....!"

His head tilted back, his chest arched up, Sebastian pressing his face against Ruvik's shoulder as he put as much force into it as he could. The tension building between them, it was perfect. Heat was building in Sebastian's abdomen, almost overwhelming.

Hearing Ruvik let out a loud cry, and realizing that his partner had reached his climax, Sebastian felt hot all over. He pulled Ruvik against him, feeling his ass squeeze so tight around Sebastian's cock, and after a few more quick thrusts, Sebastian was overtaken by bliss and came.

Ruvik looked well exhausted, panting and petting Sebastian as the detective pulled out and lied beside him. They looked at each other a moment, then Ruvik pulled Sebastian into a kiss. The detective's arms wound around Ruvik's waist, and they lied there, spent from making love.

***

Sebastian wasn't sure when they nodded off, though. He recalled going for another round, lost in Ruvik and the noises he could make. Such beautiful noises. But at some point, they must have fallen asleep, as Sebastian awoke to Ruvik curled up beside him, nude and bearing a look of content.

"... Shit..."

Sebastian felt unsure of what to do. He just slept with a suspect, and he knew he was supposed to be back long before now. Joseph was going to skin him just for lingering, and now it was even worse. He'd have to find a good way to cover this up.

Sebastian was out of bed, pulling his clothes on. A shower would have to happen later, when he returned home. He looked down at Ruvik's sleeping form as he put on his tie, and, cursing under his breath, leaned down and put a kiss on his head. He left the room quickly, trying not to think of how rude it was to leave when Ruvik was still sleeping from sex.

He stopped by the kitchen, but only because his stomach was roaring and he felt a slight headache. He found a small muffin, taking it up and quickly devouring it. He found a small piece of paper, deciding he could at least leave a note on the counter. He scribbled a "went to work - sorry" before leaving out to his car.

The drive was quiet, but the moment Sebastian had gotten home and showered, he received multiple calls from Joseph to meet him at the police depo. After bathing and changing, he went right over, hoping that Joseph wouldn't be in a frenzy about Sebastian's whereabouts.

The detective was intercepted in the main entrance hall by Joseph when he arrived. He looked upset, brow furrowed, and the deep frown on his face caused Sebastian to feel guilt. "Where have you been?"

"Joseph, look-"

"You didn't answer calls! I stopped by your place, I was so worried! Someone dies, then you don't come back from that stupid Victoriano's place? Seb, I was about to head out there! What the hell is going on with you?"

There was silence between them, and Sebastian found he could not meet Joseph's harsh gaze. "I was making sure the place was secure," he said slowly. "The guy made me feel guilty, I admit it. Apparently he's had burglary issues unrelated to the case, and has contacted us, but we've ignored him. So I was taking a look-"

"What do you do when you're there so long?"

Sebastian looked up, startled. Joseph's arms were crossed over his chest, standing up to his full height, though it was still shorter than Sebastian. "You spend so much time there. What could you possibly be doing the whole time, Seb?"

"I told you-"

"And I'm starting to wonder."

Footsteps came from nearby, drawing Joseph's attention from Sebastian. Juli appeared, holding a few papers in her arms. She waved in greeting, only to slow down when she entered the tension. "Am I interrupting something?"

"It's fine," Sebastian answered before Joseph could tell her to leave. Joseph shot him a glare, which he tried to ignore.

"Those symbols that Leslie kept drawing," Juli said. She began slow, showing a copy of one of the sketches. Sebastian always thought it looked like the Beacon symbol, but almost inverted. Instead of light going out to the world, it was sucking all the light in instead. "I found records of them somewhere else. That church that Mr. Victoriano had mentioned? There are old reports saying this symbol was scattered all over the walls. If Leslie is drawing it, there's probably a connection. I think we should take a look, see if we can dig anything up there."

Sebastian let out a sigh. "I think that's a good idea. Joseph?"

"Fine."

Sebastian walked up to his office. He didn't have to say what he was going to do. He pulled the phone close, calling Ruvik. It only took a few rings for Ruvik to answer.

"Ruvik, it's-"

"How dare you."

Sebastian faltered. His cheeks heated up. He knew what Ruvik was angry about. "Hey, I was gonna apologize-"

"I wake up to nothing. I have to go wander around to find a NOTE? I am greatly offended, Castellanos. You fuck me and then you leave. This is outrageous."

"Listen I'm sorry," Sebastian sighed, noting that Joseph was just outside his office, glaring in. Good lord, it's like everything was falling apart. "I was a little panicked okay? You're a suspect, I shouldn't have..."

"You're treading on thin ice, Castellanos," Ruvik said, tone making Sebastian wince in embarrassment. "Why are you calling? This had better be worthwhile."

"I was calling about the church you mentioned..."

Silence.

Then laughter.

"After the stunt you pulled on me this morning, detective... You really do need church."


	15. Down Under the Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAHHHHH I'm so sorry this wasn't updated sooner! It's been on a bit of a hiatus because of my lack of computer access. Writing on a phone is way too annoying so I've been avoiding it. Sorry.
> 
> I also just got out of my depression slump. It happens sometimes, where I'm not feeling good and not motivated to do anything. But since I'm out of it, I'm gonna try to find more computer time. Plus I should be getting my own laptop or tablet or something soon, so lets hope for the best!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I hope it makes up for all the time I've been gone or busy or whatever.

The car ride to Ruvik’s had been full of tension. Juli was driving, glancing constantly over at her partners, who were completely silent as the trip had begun. Sebastian quietly directed her from the back seat while Joseph sat in passenger, arms crossed over his chest as he looked out the window with anger burning in his eyes. They all seemed so tense, and while Juli seemed to know what the issue was, it was obvious she didn’t want to be a part of it.

When they arrived at the old manor, Joseph stepped out before Sebastian could, muttering that he would go and get the aristocrat himself. “It’s about time I introduce myself, anyway,” he muttered, Sebastian trying to play it cool in the back seat. The senior detective watched Joseph approach the doors, knocking on them with a rather brute force. Ruvik answered a few minutes later, and the two conversed for a brief moment. Sebastian saw Ruvik glance at the car, pretty much right at himself, then turn back to Joseph with an ease that was rather impressive.

For a moment the detective felt doubt. Surely Ruvik wouldn’t say anything about their sexual relations to Joseph? It would mean trouble for the both of them - but he knew it wouldn’t mean as much trouble for Ruvik as it would himself. “Those two gonna stand up there all day?” he said. Juli, up front, gave him a look, but it was easy to see she was thinking the same thing. For the most part, Sebastian was able to read her when it came to casual remarks and easy conversation.

Both men came to the car, Joseph taking up his usual spot in the passenger’s seat while Ruvik slipped in back with Sebastian. The two made eye contact, and Sebastian quickly looked away, but he could tell that Ruvik was staring right at him as the car began to pull away.

“So, you’re going to have to direct us from now on, Mr. Victoriano,” Juli said.

“I prefer Ruvik at this point,” the man replied. Juli nodded, falling silent in the front.

Joseph was constantly glancing back at them, trying to remain subtle but failing. Ruvik seemed to notice faster than Sebastian, because the rich man inched closer to the detective under the guise of getting a better view out the windshield. He began to casually direct, giving little smirks to Joseph whenever they made eye contact. His body sitting there, in the middle, blocked Joseph’s view as Ruvik slowly rested a hand on Sebastian’s leg.

The detective had slowly begun to grow comfortable as they had made their journey, but he cold hand on his leg caused him to jump, looking at Ruvik with wide eyes. Ruvik wasn’t looking at him, staring ahead and still mumbling out a string of directions for Juli. His hand was rubbing Sebastian’s knee, and slowly trailing up his leg, causing Sebastian to sit up more and try to nudge the hand away. The hand was almost up to his groin when Ruvik stopped and finally looked over at him. His expression said it all.

I’m still mad at you.

When Ruvik removed his hand, Sebastian almost felt relief. Sure, he liked the feeling of Ruvik touching him, but in a car with Joseph? That was a mistake waiting to happen, and they both knew it. Glancing out the window, they had begun to drive through a little village. It looked empty, alone, and Sebastian heard a sharp intake of breath from Juli up front. He was tempted to ask, but Ruvik interrupted his thoughts by directing them a little further. Eventually they managed to get out of the village, and just down the road, not even a full mile, was a large church. Like the village, it looked empty, long since abandoned. Juli parked just outside the steps, and they all got out, climbing up to the main entrance. Ruvik followed Sebastian closely, which got a fuming look from Joseph, but Sebastian tried to play it off like he didn’t notice or he didn’t even care.

The inside of the church was grime and dust. It looked like it had been falling apart for years. Juli looked around with narrowed eyes, holding in her breath as she looked around. Joseph followed, looking at a few pews and taking a couple of the rotting bibles and examining them. Ruvik, Sebastian noticed, was on edge. He glanced around the halls of the church, looking as though he would vomit - or worse.

Apparently Sebastian wasn’t the only one to notice. “What’s up with him?” Joseph said.

Ruvik’s eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. “I used to attend this church,” he said. “Against my will of course. My father was a fanatic of this place. I was happy to leave, and overjoyed when it was shut down.”

Juli opened a door, which scraped loudly against the stone floor, causing them all to flinch from the conversation. “There’s another room back here… and it looks like some stairs maybe.”

“Let’s go check it out,” Joseph said. The two began to wander over, and Sebastian was about to follow when Ruvik grabbed him by the wrist. Turning back, he sees anger in the man’s pale eyes, and sighs as he allowed Ruvik to pull him along behind a pillar, pressing Sebastian up to it and kissing him.

Sebastian constantly glanced around, making sure Joseph weren’t to suddenly appear and see them like that, but Ruvik dove all in. He pressed his body against Sebastian’s as much as he could, causing the detective to shiver. He put a lot of force into the kiss, and for a moment Sebastian wondered if it would be easy to see their deeds. He raised his hands, running them through Sebastian’s dark hair for a moment, before he reached down and began to open up his vest.

“Hey, whoa.” Sebastian broke the kiss and took Ruvik’s wrists, holding them up. The anger burning in Ruvik’s eyes caused an unpleasant chill in his body. “We can’t be doing that. Not here, not when Joseph is just in the next room…”

“If that’s the case, you shouldn’t have just left me that morning. You used my body then left.”

Sebastian felt guilt stinging his chest. “Ruvik, I… I didn’t mean it like that,” he said. “I got a little worried, okay? I didn’t know what to do, I panicked… I wouldn’t have otherwise. If it wasn’t this situation, I promise you that I wouldn’t have.”

Ruvik eyed him for a long time, arms crossing over his chest as he thought about Sebastian’s words. The detective himself had some doubts, though, standing there and hoping Ruvik would take those words. Would he have actually stayed, if it was just a normal situation? He wasn’t sure. A part of him thought yes, for common courtesy, and that he was kind of growing to enjoy this man, but a strong part of him also said no and told him that he shouldn’t even be having this fling, that it was wrong and sick and twisted.

“... Fine.” Ruvik pulled back, but it wasn’t really cold. It was more sad. “But I expect you to make it up to me soon, okay? And if you do well here, and Joseph seems to calm down about us… Well you might just have a reward coming your way from me.”

Sebastian couldn’t deny the heat rushing through his body at his words. Was he going to turn on at Ruvik’s beck and call now? It was ridiculous, but the way the man was looking at him…

Sighing, he pressed a chaste kiss to Ruvik’s cheek, then pulled the man out from behind their cover. He brought them quickly over to the front of the church, looking around that area and acting as though they had been for a while. It was a smart move, as Joseph came out from the other room.

“What are you two doing?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

Sebastian stood up from looking at the preacher’s stand. “I was taking a look to make sure there wasn’t anything real significant up here,” he said. He looked over to Ruvik, surprised and a little happy to see the man had distanced himself and was looking around the statue. “I see you’re making yourself useful.”

Ruvik shot him a glare before rolling his eyes. “I could say the same about you, detective,” he said. He sounded bored, indifferent, and he looked that way, too. Sebastian was impressed by his acting. If the conversation from moments before hadn’t happened, he would have likely been convinced and confused.

Joseph seemed to relax a little as well. Seeing that they were almost a little annoyed by each other, he turned his full attention to Sebastian, gesturing for him to come into the back. “We were going to take a look downstairs. Care to join us?”

Sebastian followed Joseph to the other room, which just looked like a pastor’s office and maybe a few social rooms. Ruvik followed behind a ways, looking around with little noises of disgust. Eventually they got to a staircase going down, and Sebastian figured it was time to put Ruvik’s memory to the test. “So what’s down there?” he asked. He spotted Juli looking through another room, but making her way over to them.

“There’s storage down there,” Ruvik said. “That’s where the hole appeared, as well.”

“The hole?” Joseph inquired.

A grin came up on Ruvik’s face. “Oh yes, the hole,” he said. “It revealed this place’s hellish secrets. Disgusting ones I was forced to keep quiet. For example, they would feed human bodies to a dog they thought belonged to demons, so they were hoping to keep it at bay. Sadly, it was a normal dog they taught to adore human flesh. He’s long since dead, police put him down when they found out. Good for it, too, the poor thing had never seen sunlight, and was forced to be a subject of worship.”

“That’s disgusting,” Sebastian said. He noticed that Juli, now going down the staircase to the basement, seemed to shudder at the mention of the dog. He raised a brow, looking over at Joseph, who shrugged in response. “We’ll head down and take a look, then. Are you fine with staying up here, Ruvik?”

“I could care less,” he said. He went over to the pastor’s desk in the next room, sitting on it and examining his nails with little interest.

Joseph and Sebastian descended the stairs, and they had to pull out flashlights for the journey. Thankfully it wasn’t as dark and decrepit as the asylum basement, but Sebastian wondered for a moment how Joseph would hold up, after how he acted in previous darkness. Thankfully, he seemed to be in much better shape.

“So what do you think we’ll find?” Joseph said. “And are you sure we can trust him alone up there?”

“I found out the guy can’t even drive, Joseph,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. He didn’t really like trash talking Ruvik to Joseph, but he found that he had no other options. “He’ll be fine. And as for what’s down here… Hell, I have no fucking clue.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Yes, mom.”

They met Juli down in a storage room, the dust covering the room overwhelming Sebastian’s nose. “Shit, this place stinks.”

“Well, look over there, this might distract you.”

It did.

A large crevice in the stone floor was caved in, the entire opening practically full of spiderwebs. “That’s pretty gross,” Sebastian muttered. He got a stare from Joseph that meant he was calling out the obvious, so he kept his mouth shut and approached the hole carefully, looking down into it.

“Well, if we go down there, we need a secure way back up,” Juli said. She disappeared from Sebastian’s sight, though he could see her light bobbing around for a moment. When she came back, she was holding an old ladder, and she dropped it down into the hole. To their luck, it was taller, jutting out a little ways from the hole. “Well, talk about getting the good deal for once in this case.”

They all descended into the rooms below. Or rather a hallway. There are many unlit torches on the walls, dust and dirt all over the chamber as well. Their flashlights couldn’t make much of a dent in the darkness, and Sebastian instantly turned his attention to Joseph. The man seemed okay, but like before, he was easily showing signs of distress at their situation. Was he maybe just freaked out by this level of darkness? It was so unlike him, though.

“So should we look around?” Joseph asked. His voice jumped a little, turning quick to look down a hall. “It’s so creepy in here…. Where do you think they lead?”

Sebastian shrugged, and began to walk down one of the halls. “I’ll just go straight, I won’t take any turns. If I don’t find anything immediate, then I’ll turn back right away. Kidman, you do the same.” He hesitated. “Joseph, you’re fine by the ladder right?”

The quick nod from Joseph wasn’t really reassuring, but he took it. He began to make his way down the hall, keeping his hand on brick as he moved. The path kept going…

And going…

And going…

And going a little more.

He eventually found himself not at a room, but a split in the path. There were 3 other paths that formed, completely branching away from the first. “What the fuck, who made this? How did anyone even get around down here?” He searched the walls for signs, but there were none. Just old, blank walls, not a trace of any life from before on them. “What the hell kind of place…”

One of the halls, a person stood. Sebastian flinched, looking carefully down it. The person wore a long coat, tears all over it. He didn’t see many features otherwise, and the face was covered by a hood.

The detective heard a whispering in his head, and he shook his head, looking back up to see that the figure was gone. Should he chase after it? He wasn’t sure. The whispering had been unknown babbling. He hadn’t been able to make out a word of it. Sighing, he turned and went back down the hall he came. If he were to try to chase the form, he would probably get lost. He figured it was just the darkness playing tricks. Considering he could barely make out any definite features, that was likely the case.

Joseph had a tight grip on the ladder by the time he got back. Juli was there with him, the two talking quietly. When Sebastian returned, the two turned their attention to him. Juli looked almost angry, and while both looked like they were about to speak, Juli launched into her questions first.

“How the hell did Ruvik know about these catacombs?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” Sebastian replied. Great, now he was going to be the subject of questioning. “He had told me a while ago that he used to attend here, that his father was pretty psychotic and loved this place. He probably knew a few secrets about this place but wasn’t able to share a damn thing. Now that he’s got a reason too? If I were him I would sure be happy to spill the beans about the hell that was happening here.”

Juli didn’t seem to happy with his answer, but Joseph did. “Can we talk more upstairs? Did you even find anything?”

Sebastian decided to say nothing about the form he saw. “Just more hallways. Nothing of interest. No signs, nothing.”

As they left the crevice in the floor and ascended from the basement, Joseph seemed to relax instantly. “I think we should go back to Beacon and take another look at that basement,” he said. “Who knows what we could have missed. Maybe there was something there that was a clue and we just didn’t see it.”

Ruvik was still on the desk when they returned, humming an old tune to himself. When he saw them, he stood, nodding slightly in greeting to them. “Did you find what you were looking for down there?” he asked. He frowned when he got a headshake from them. “Well that’s a shame. How much did you look?”

“The halls were too dark, and they were endless,” Juli said. They began to file past Ruvik, going out to the sanctuary to leave. Ruvik noticed how Sebastian had fallen silent, following them out as they approached the car. “We might want to take a look again at some point, but for now I think we’re good.”

There were cold eyes on Sebastian as they got in the car, and he didn’t really like the feeling of them. His mind had gone to that figure in the hall. Was it really there? Was it a vision? His mind just playing tricks on him? He didn’t like the feeling that settled in his stomach on the matter.

Ruvik just looked out the window boredly as they began to drive him to his manor. When they were about halfway there, he spoke up, however. “Detective Castellanos, if you’re so curious about that place, I might ask you stay at my home and take a look through some of my father’s old books. Perhaps any questions you have or things that bothered you would be answered there.”

Joseph immediately grew tense in the front seat, but he looked too tired from the experience he had in those catacombs to object. Sebastian looked from Joseph to Ruvik, who had a small smile on his face, though it didn’t really hint at the sexual nature. “... Sure, fine. Joseph, I’ll give you a call to come get me later. That fine?”

“Me or Juli,” Joseph replied. “But fine.”

**Ruvik leaned in a little towards Sebastian, and now the detective could see the sexual nature in his eyes. “I’m sure you’ll learn a thing or two.”**


	16. You Are a Heartache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who finally has a laptop and is gonna be able to right more? This guuuuuuuuuuyyyyyyy!
> 
> So naturally I write a short chapter. Sorry. This entire summer I've been unable to write anything so I'm getting back into the swing of things. I'm getting better with my mental health problems as well, and I think that will stop getting in the way of the quality of my writing real soon.
> 
> I hope you guys like this, sorry it's so shoooort!

Lips crush together with a force that takes Sebastian’s breath away. Skin was pressed together, bodies close as humanly possible. Ruvik was a dream, something he could only imagine, and having him lying on top of his body, chests flushed together, heat between them as they kissed and felt each other’s bodies with desperate hands. The breathless noises that Ruvik made were music to Sebastian’s ears. He wanted more, to keep hearing it, there was nothing else more important than the little whimpers of “yes” that Ruvik made.

Thoughts were clouded as Sebastian began to tug on Ruvik’s trousers. Why their pants were still on, he had no idea, but he was eager to get Ruvik out of them. The man above him seemed to take the hint, but he broke the kiss and sat up, pressing his ass down against Sebastian and making the man gasp. “No, not just yet. Wait until I say so.”

This caused Sebastian to hesitate. Looking up at Ruvik, he felt doubt in his chest. “Ruvik, wait…” This was wrong. Ruvik was a suspect. Sure, they had already had sex, but… That didn’t make coming back to do it again right. He was supposed to be finding a killer, and Ruvik was high up on the list. Having being intimate with him seemed like a bad idea, and he began to sit up, Ruvik looking at him warily. “I don’t think we should… Not right now…”

Ruvik looked surprised, though he didn’t seem too hurt by being denied in turn. “It’s sex, Sebastian,” he said. “It’s not that big of a deal.” Now he was showing signs of agitation. Sebastian figured it would come one way or another. Ruvik wasn’t used to being denied. Having been denied now was obviously making him a little sore. “You act like it’s the most important thing. We’re just sleeping together, it doesn’t change anything.”

“Ruvik, it changes a lot of things,” Sebastian said, shaking his head. “I don’t want to get attached to someone who I’m investigating.” He knew with Ruvik he didn’t need to tiptoe around things. The man prefered blunt answers, that much was clear. “I just think that I should wait until I know that things are square. Is that okay with you, or not?”

“Am I not attractive to you?”

This caught Sebastian off guard. There was actually a hurt look in Ruvik’s eyes, and he was angry and climbing off of Sebastian and picking up his shirt. “I’m not just a thing for you to use, detective,” he said. “Am I not good enough? Not meeting your standards? You slept with me out of pity, nothing more? I don’t need pity from you, I don’t need pity from anyone.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like…” Ruvik stormed away, buttoning up his shirt as he left the bedroom. Sebastian sat up and let out a deep sigh, shaking his head as he reached down for his own shirt and pulled it on. He half hoped that Ruvik would come back to talk to him about it, but the door to the bedroom remained closed, and he figured that Ruvik probably went somewhere private to begin working on some things to calm down.

Getting up, Sebastian left the bedroom and wandered to the library. There was nobody there, and nothing really of interest for him, and he found himself going downstairs and into the lounge. The entire place was empty. Where Ruvik had gone, he had no idea. Looking around the lounge, he knew there was nothing there for him either, but the space was open to let him walk around and look at the trinkets and think about things.

Ruvik wasn’t a smart choice. From the start, Sebastian knew being around the man was a terrible mistake. Sebastian had many vices that the aristocrat knew how to bend and manipulate, and it made his stomach twist at how many times now that Ruvik had found a way to use Sebastian, even for little things. Why he allowed the man to do this to him, he wasn’t sure. He felt somewhat used, and he knew that Ruvik was hoping for exactly that.

Yet the man was enjoyable. He was good in bed, and in his own mysterious way, he had found Ruvik to be a comfort when he felt alone. Joseph was a good friend, but Sebastian had very different experiences from Joseph. Ruvik’s past and Sebastian’s own past aligned very close, and without even speaking much about it, Sebastian could feel Ruvik’s sympathy, could feel them having a sort of bond over their history in a way he knew he couldn’t have with Joseph. Plus, despite the burns, Ruvik was incredibly handsome, easy on the eyes and nice to look at.

The case seemed to be taking too many twists and turns. They had no good leads. The church left him with more questions. The killer was good at covering up their tracks. And Sebastian knew that Ruvik knew more than he was letting on. Whether he was involved or at least knows who the killer was, he wasn’t prepared to give up all his secrets. It caused dread in Sebastian’s chest. What if Ruvik was the killer? Sebastian wasn’t sure what he would do if he found out.

“You would arrest him.”

The words were full out doubt as he said them aloud. Would he? Could he actually arrest Ruvik? They had been so intimate… Ruvik has a sort of trust in him, he could feel it. Could he really betray the trust of someone who knew him this closely? He couldn’t do that to Joseph for sure - he wasn’t sure yet about Ruvik.

His thoughts were interrupted by a faint sound. He wasn’t sure if he heard it clearly at first. It sounded like a scream, but so quiet that Sebastian wonderred for a moment if it was just the creaking of the manor around him. One thing he found disturbing about the mansion was that it was always making those kinds of noises around him - groans of the walls and the floors, and it was frightening. He stood still, listening around him. There was nothing but pure silence, and it was somewhat nerve racking.

He was about to give up and walk over to look at the large piano down the hall when the scream came more clearly this time. It didn’t sound like Ruvik - it didn’t sound like anyone he knew. But the noise, in the manor, the screams that rose up and then fell away almost instantly, he grew alert. They sounded so close. Muffled, yes, but close by. He was quick to run out of the lounge and into the main entrance hall, and he looked around, trying to listen for the noise again. There was only silence, and he sighed. Where the hell did that sound come from? He knew he heard it. He had absolutely no doubts.

Turning, Ruvik was standing there by the lounge door. Where he had come from, Sebastian had no idea. He hadn’t heard any walking, hadn’t heard any doors. Ruvik seemed to have calmed down, and was holding drinks. “Ruvik?”

He turned, eyes wide with surprise. “Oh, Sebastian,” he said, voice light and at ease. “I thought I heard you in the lounge. Strange... “ He shrugged, pushing the doors open with his foot. “Would you like to have a drink with me? I expect you to say yes, I don’t really take no for an answer, you know that.” He walked into the lounge before Sebastian could say anything. The detective simply sighed and followed him in.

“Ruvik, what was that noise?” he asked. Ruvik ignored his question, sitting down on the sofa in the lounge and leaning back against it. He held out a drink to Sebastian, who took it and sniffed a bit. It was something stronger than the simple wine that Ruvik usually had, which was different. Ruvik wasn’t really the liquor type, or at least Sebastian had thought. He sat down beside Ruvik, who gave him a confident smirk, but he wasn’t done yet. “I heard a scream. What was that?”

Ruvik just shrugged and took a sip of his drink. Sebastian caught that he made a face and found himself a little amused. He was right in thinking that he wasn’t a hard liquor type. He got some because he knew that Sebastian liked it, and was willing to drink it if Sebastian did. That was almost a cute gesture. But looking into Ruvik’s eyes, he saw that he wasn’t going to get an answer about the scream. At least, not one he wanted.

“Strange that you heard one,” Ruvik commented. “I knew you had paranoia issues but I’m certain that you weren’t this bad. I’m ashamed to say that I was wrong.” He shook his head, then gave Sebastian a look of curiosity. “May I ask you a question of my own?” he asked. He didn’t wait for Sebastian to reply. “Why did you decide that you wanted to be a detective? Hmmm? You easily could have been something else.”

The tone of his voice was harsh, and Sebastian grew tense. He looked over at Ruvik, who would not meet Sebastian’s gaze, looking straight at the wall instead. “Why would you choose a job that makes you so difficult to be around? You probably have to leave all the time, stay late at the office, risk your life every day… And then you’re probably suspicious of everyone around you, how could anyone deal with that? How can I be expected to deal with that?”

Sebastian wasn’t sure what to say. Ruvik had implied that he wanted to have more with Sebastian than just a relationship where they slept together. It wasn’t explicit, but having him ask those questions was strange to hear. What could he even reply with? “Ruvik… I chose this job because I wanted to help people and keep people safe,” he said. “I wanted to stop people from doing horrible things to people.”

“But what if the person who is doing those horrible things has a good reason?” he asked. “I’ve seen people jailed for things that were crimes, sure, but the person they were doing it too were far worse than the one arrested. The justice system is confusing to me. Who decides what is good and what is evil? Why do you follow them blindly and remove people from the streets that might not be as dangerous or evil as you were led to think?”

These questions were strange to Sebastian. Ruvik sounded almost angry, and he was definitely suspicious of Sebastian. Which the detective felt was backwards. Shouldn’t he be the one who was asking questions and making Ruvik feel uncomfortable and uncertain? He had no idea.

He didn’t even pay attention as Ruvik continued to refill his drink every time he downed it. The liquor was taking a toll on his head, Sebastian could tell that for sure. Ruvik was so attractive, sitting there and looking at him like that. That anger burning in his eyes, that suspicion… it was beautiful. Why did he say no to him again? He wasn’t too sure what had cause him to deny the man.

“Who is Myra?”

All the comfort of the drink was gone. Sebastian stared at Ruvik, his chest tightening at the mention of that name. Ruvik seemed surprised, looking back at Sebastian with wide eyes. He looked at the detective, waiting for a response, and it was easy to see that he was regretting asking a question like that. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to-”

“Never ask about her again.” Sebastian turned away, taking another sip of his drink. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“I understand…” Ruvik whispered. He scooted close to Sebastian, resting his chin on Sebastian’s shoulders. He pressed a chaste kiss to Sebastian’s ear, a hand moving and sliding along his chest. “We can talk about other things. Or we can…” His one hand continued to rub Sebastian’s chest, the other setting the glass of liquor aside and snaking down to palm Sebastian’s groin.

The detective let out a gasp, eyes closing. It felt good, Ruvik’s hands on him like that. Why did he ever say no to Ruvik again? He wasn’t sure. It felt amazing, Ruvik’s mouth on his ear, breath hot and lovely. He let out a deep breath, breathing heavily and smiling a little. “Ruvik…” he breathed, head tilting back a little bit, and he shook his head and sighed a little. Turning, he pulled Ruvik against him, his own drink falling and breaking on the floor as he pulled Ruvik into a harsh kiss. He pushed Ruvik to lean back on the sofa, pulling his pants down in one swift motion. Ruvik gasped into the kiss, breaking it and looking at him with surprise.

“I thought this was a bad idea to you,” he breathed. Sebastian kissed his chin, then his head moved down between Ruvik’s legs.

**“Just shut up and enjoy it will you?”**


	17. Who Do You Think You Are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? Wow I'm really making sure that I don't disappoint.
> 
> Sadly they're both so short. Oops. Sorry people.

“Are you sure you can handle it?”

Joseph nodded as Tatiana walked them to the basement, humming quietly to herself and holding the old lantern. They didn’t bother to bring flashlights this time. There wasn’t any point in trying to use something that barely worked. Joseph was nervous, Sebastian could see that much. It was a shame to see him so shaken up by that darkness. He wondered what it was that was bothering the man so much in those spaces, if he had always been this way and Sebastian just never noticed until recently.

Juli didn’t join them this time around. She had been exploring the basement without them, and had made a pile at Tatiana’s counter of things she had found that they hadn’t found the first trip. There were medical tools scattered around that had been covered in blood. It was easily likely that the blood could have been from old experiments people had done in the dreadful place so many years ago, but Sebastian was ready to rule anything out. She had also found a bloody doctor’s uniform. It was easy to see that it was one of the newest uniforms. It was definitely from the killer. He had worn a disguise to get by doctors and security it seemed. Sebastian was a little impressed, but now things were going as they had hoped. The killer left traces. Perhaps he slipped up in other areas as well.

“I hope this won’t take very long,” Tatiana said softly in front of them. “I have some things to do you know.” Sebastian nodded a little, and Joseph was giving her words of reassurance. The basement was as dark and decrepit as Sebastian remembered, and looking through, he figured that Juli had since picked it clean of anything that was worth looking at.

Tatiana stood there with a bored look on her face, and letting out small sighs on occasion. Joseph was shaken up, looking around nervously. He seemed to be lost in his own little world, so Sebastian took the opportunity to speak to Tatiana about the things Juli had found previously. “Miss Gutierrez, may I ask a few questions about what was found previously?”

Tatiana watched Sebastian for a moment before she answered with a bored “yes”.

“Were you aware those things were down here? When did they appear? I don’t recall seeing any of them here before.”

Tatiana seemed to be taking a moment to think about his words, looking at him with a raised brow. “It’s curious,” she said finally. Her voice was suddenly sharp, and filled with almost a fascination as she looked him over. “I wonder why he is helping you if he’s the one who did this. I wonder… It’s curious why you’re sleeping with him. Does your partner know?”

Sebastian couldn’t breathe as he heard those words. Having those words spoken by her, the woman with possibly all the answers possible, it was all becoming clear. There was something off about Ruvik the whole time, and he had known somewhere that this was going to be the result. They had slept together now about four times, and Sebastian had grown used to being around him, holding him close and kissing him as they drifted to sleep after two or three rounds. Sometimes they didn’t even have sex, just kept close to each other and sat in silence.

And now he knew that wouldn’t last.

Tatiana had lost interest in Sebastian, head turning to look around the darkness. Sebastian looked over at Joseph, biting his lip. The detective was looking at the wall they had found the piece of cloth, his gloved hands feeling the wall. Sebastian felt unsure if he should tell Joseph or not. He wanted to catch the killer, but....

Walking over to Joseph, Sebastian cleared his throat, causing Joseph to jump. He opened his mouth to speak, but when he saw the excitement in Joseph’s eyes he paused. “What are you so happy about?” he asked. He began to lean on the wall that Joseph had been looking at - and some of the bricks shifted against his weight. Jumping back in surprise, Sebastian looked from the wall to Joseph, who was beaming at him with accomplishment. The two didn’t even need to speak as they turned to the wall and began to push at the bricks. They gave away with ease, leading into more darkness. Tatiana had approached behind them, suddenly curious as to what they were doing.

The other side of the wall was a hall made of stone, pure darkness gushing out of it. There was a cold breeze rushing through, and Sebastian squinted through the darkness and felt his breath hitch in his throat. There was a man in the distance, and he wore a hood. Joseph didn’t seem to see him, but he was perfectly clear to Sebastian. His heart almost stopped at the sight. He knew where the hall was leading to before Joseph could even speak.

“Are these the catacombs of the church? That’s miles away, but…”

Sebastian tore his eyes away from the man, who and turned and walked away. On the wall was the symbol that Leslie was always drawing. A small arrow pointed to the wall they had broken down. Sebastian recognized it now. It was Beacon’s symbol, but in a form that was much darker and far more dangerous.

***

“We have to arrest him, bring him in,” Joseph’s voice was clipped and furious. Juli was leaning against Sebastian’s desk, arms crossed as she looked from one man to the other. “We can’t just keep pretending Sebastian! Ruvik is the killer and we all know it.”

“We don’t have enough evidence yet,” Sebastian almost shouted back. He felt anger and frustration in his body, but not towards Joseph. How could Ruvik do this to him? It made sense to him though. Distract the cop, get him attached to you. He didn’t want to believe that Ruvik was the killer even now, but he began to realize that it was all fake.

Was he being used the whole time? The things Ruvik whispered in his ear… was it all just a fake thing to get Sebastian to look away from his killing people? The scream he heard in the mansion suddenly made sense. He felt sick. Incredibly sick.

“Sebastian, we need to face facts here!” Joseph said. “All the signs are pointing to him, and we need to do something about it.”

“I’m with Joseph on this one,” Juli said. Both men turned their attention to her as she stood, shaking her head. “This is going too far, Sebastian, we need to get him in here and figure it out but… I don’t think there’s anyone else who could have done this, or who would have wanted to do this.”

“There are plenty of other people,” Sebastian replied. “You can’t just put the blame on someone when there’s still other options!”

They stared each other down, eyes narrowed. Sebastian felt outnumbered, and he hated knowing that they were right. They were right about all of it. He took a step back, hands going to his hips and he lowered his head, sighing deeply. “Fuck, this is…”

“Sebastian, just what has been going on between you and him?” Joseph said. His voice was low and calm, ready to hear what Sebastian had to say with little judgement.

“... Let me go talk to the people in the town just by his manor. I want to hear his reputation from them before I make any decisions. Is that fine by you two?” Sebastian looked from Joseph to Juli, the pain on his face obvious. He didn’t have to say that anything happened, but by the look on his face he was able to tell them that his current situation was complicated.

Glancing at each other, they seemed to look resigned. It wasn’t as if they had much of a choice. “Okay but,” Joseph said. “Call us. I want to be there when we bring him in, okay? I don’t want you to have to do this alone.”

Sebastian left his office without a word, leaving Joseph and Juli watching after him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do but one thing was certain.

He wanted real answers.

**And the only one who could tell him for sure was Ruvik himself.**


	18. Stop Tormenting Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so things kind of take a turn in this chapter and the next one. I'm updating the tags a bit, if people have a discomfort with shit like drugging people and all that, then this series is not for you!
> 
> Just to let you know, any shit that Ruben does. I do not approve of. It personally makes me pretty sick myself, but that's why he does it. He's meant to be the guy who does shit like this so yeah.
> 
> I hope you all like it though. And you're probably wondering what the hell chapters 19 and 20 are about. And then you'll be like "WHAT IS THE SEQUEL ABOUT". I'm sure some surprises are in store for YOU.

Sebastian was pacing. His heart began to pound in his chest and he took in a deep breath. His eyes closed and he rubbed his face to try to get the nervous out of his body. It wasn’t working. “Just… just ask him straight out.” Sebastian muttered to himself. “Just ask him why he did it. You know he did, there’s no question. Just get your answers and go. Don’t linger. Don’t have sex. Don’t let him distract you.”

The Victoriano lounge suddenly wasn’t such a pleasant place. The darkness he always felt there, the emptiness, it seemed so strong, and it overwhelmed his chest as he stood there. Shaking his head, he let out a deep sigh, wondering just how it got to this moment, standing there in Ruvik’s home and waiting to ask the questions. He knew he couldn’t arrest Ruvik on the spot. But he knew that he wouldn’t stop Joseph if he learned the truth right here and now.

“Sebastian.” Ruvik’s voice made Sebastian shiver as he entered the room. He had that usual look of confidence about him, wandering up to the detective as though they were not at the close of a murder case. He had the look about him that his lover was just paying a visit, and that he planned for it to be a wonderful visit indeed. Heat built up for a moment in Sebastian. He could forget all this, just let Ruvik give him an amazing night, make up some lie in the morning to tell to Joseph.

No.

It couldn’t just end like that.

Those murdered doctors deserved justice, even assholes like Marcelo Jimenez.

Ruvik slowed down as he approached Sebastian, noticing how tense the detective was. He began to slow down, eyes narrowing with caution as he eventually stopped at a bit of a distance from Sebastian. The room became tense as a result, and Sebastian felt sick as the air grew heavy, and suspicion sat in Ruvik’s gaze. “Is something the matter, Seb?”

Before Sebastian can answer, the suspicion in Ruvik’s eyes disappeared and he sauntered over, running a hand along Sebastian’s back, causing him to shiver. “You seem a little distracted? A little tense? Is everything going well? Did you come to see me to get a little… relief?” His hand gently pressed up to Sebastian’s backside, causing the man to jump. “I wouldn’t mind being of… service to you again.” Ruvik smirked at the heat forming on Sebastian’s face.

Don’t let him fuck with your head like that.

“I’m not here for that,” Sebastian said, and it almost came out as a snarl. This caused Ruvik to jump back just enough for Sebastian to feel relief, but the tension in the room simply heightened. He would definitely be needing a drink after this conversation, but certainly not here. He could never come back here.

“I would prefer my personal space today, first off,” Sebastian said, his voice forced and rough. The look in Ruvik’s eyes, the feeling in the room, the anger in his own body, he couldn’t keep it in without going mad. He had to ask straight out. “Why did you kill those men, Ruvik?”

Standing here, Sebastian saw that Ruvik was a little caught by surprise by his words. How could he be? Certainly he knew that Sebastian was on his trail. Perhaps he just thought that Sebastian really was here to see him, but as angry from a day at work? That almost sounded ridiculous to Sebastian now. It was ridiculous. But Ruvik could have easily messed with him to make him think those things.

Disgust filled his stomach. He was being used the whole time. Yet the whimperings that came from Ruvik, those words, everything that Ruvik said and did felt like… affection of a form. Was Ruvik really that good at disguising his intentions? Sebastian wanted to believe that some of it was real. It had to be.

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Ruvik said. He turned his attention from Sebastian to the wall, looking at a painting that hung there. Sebastian always thought it was dull and boring. “Are you talking about the case? Why would I kill those men? Sure, I was angry with them, but  I would have had no way to get to them. No way to kill them. And they hardly did a thing to me, why would I want to kill them over something that’s so easy to get over? Sebastian, you’re words are so silly, listen to yourself.”

Don’t listen to him, he’s trying to make you second guess yourself.

“How would you have known about the catacombs under the church?” he said. “How could you have known to point us in the direction of Tatiana and the basement?”

Ruvik shot him a dark look. “Why would a killer want to expose himself? If I was the one who did it, why would I help you to catch me, Sebastian? Hmm?”

“That’s what doesn’t make any fucking sense!” Sebastian shouted now, and he felt a little satisfaction when Ruvik jumped back in surprise. “Why any of this? It doesn’t make any fucking sense, Ruvik. Why would you kill those doctors and then pretend like you’re so innocent and deal with us so closely? We found the items in the basement, and you playing dumb isn’t going to help you out of this.”

Ruvik stood there with wide eyes, and for a moment he seemed unable to move. They stared each other down, silence filling the space, and Sebastian wanted to leave, but he felt stuck to the floor. He could see their entire relationship play out before his eyes and he felt tricked, lied to. It was monstrous. Finally he was able to get himself moving, walking to the lounge door. “We’ll be back at some point soon,” he said quietly. “And you know damn well why.”

Pausing at the lounge door, Sebastian let out a sigh. “It’s over, Ruvik,” he finally said. “Whatever the fuck is going on between us, I don’t even know what it is… It’s over. I’m done.” He went out into the main hall and closed the lounge door behind him. He didn’t even look back to see Ruvik’s expression.

The main hall looked sad and void of life. Sebastian couldn’t help but miss the look of it before he had even left. Something so wonderful, so beautiful before, was now so ugly and haunting and cruel. But he would never suffer through it again. That much was decided.

Approaching the door now, Sebastian’s hand rested on the handle and he sighed. Could he really just leave like that? With those words. Part of him wanted to go back into the lounge, get on his knees and beg for Ruvik to forgive him of his accusations and his words. That side could not win today. Ruvik was the killer. He would be arrested. Jailed. It would be the end for him. Sebastian could get back to his normal life.

“What was it that he said?” Sebastian muttered to himself, “It’s just sex?”

A part of Sebastian had been torn out by this encounter.

Twisting the handle, Sebastian was ready to leave.

Then barbed wire snaked itself around Sebastian’s torso, dragging him back. Pain shot through his body and he couldn’t help but cry out, the barbs cutting into his clothes, into his skin. Blood dripped down his body as he was dragged back, and he fell on the floor. More barbed wire latched itself around him - around his legs, his arms, even a little on his face, enclosing him in a bloody mess of a cocoon.

Standing above him, Ruvik was looking down with wide eyes and a blank expression. His hands were shaking, dripping of their own blood. Sebastian’s eyes met his and before he could say anything, do anything, the thin line of Ruvik’s mouth twisted into a grin as he looked down at Sebastian and began to laugh, body shaking almost violently.

“You… You tried to leave me…” Ruvik mumbled. “You were going to leave me…. That’s… That’s not happening. Not now, not ever….”

The syringe was a surprise. Sebastian had never seen it nearby, but Ruvik probably had so many secret places to carry and conceal or to hide it until the time to strike. A strange green liquid sat in it, and Ruvik was looking at him with that mad gaze.

Was he going to die like that? Tied up in barbed wire?

Opening his mouth, his tongue and teeth were met with cold, sharp metal. He stopped any noises of pain, but watched with growing fear as Ruvik crouched down, looking at him with what Sebastian couldn’t mistake as affection and desire. He pet the top of Sebastian’s head, which made his stomach reel. He was insane. Sebastian was sleeping with a madman.

A jolt of pain came when the syringe was stabbed into the crook of his neck.

Then…

Drowsiness.

And finally.

**Darkness.**


	19. I Want you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER OF PASSIVE
> 
> THE SEQUEL WILL BE AGGRESSION COMING OUT... AT SOME POINT IN TIME
> 
> This chapter is incredibly short. But that's okay. I wanted it to be. Really. I wanted it to be. That's the point. I hope it's good and creepy and yeah. Please let it be so.

The air was cold. Unbearably cold. Sebastian felt groggy. He couldn’t move. There wasn’t pain. He remembered there being pain before. Was it pain? He was fairly certain…

His eyes managed to open for a moment, and Sebastian looked around. Everything was blurry, and even after a few blinks things weren’t too familiar. It was a dimly lit room, that much was for sure. Looking around, his head was slowly catching up with his eyes as things began to take shape and he realized where he was.

It was the basement of Beacon. He saw the hallway just before him, a door that reminded him of a cell just in front of him. Bars all over it, and he spotted Tatiana’s desk just beyond. He tried to call out to her, but his voice was gone. He was silent, sitting there in what he knew was that damned lobotomy chair that had been sealed off before. He was trying to look around, feeling his wrists and ankles strapped down. He felt like he was awaiting his death, waiting for the clock to count down until his demise.

There was a bit of movement out of the corner of his eye. Sebastian tried to turn his head to see. Maybe it was Tatiana. She could get him out of here. Why she wouldn’t have already he wasn’t sure, but… maybe.

Instead of the bored gazy that Tatiana always gave him, Sebastian managed to turn his head enough to make eye contact with the mad eyes of Ruvik. He was smiling, eyes wide and full of a madness that made Sebastian’s stomach lurch. “Good morning, Seb,” Ruvik cooed. He was working on something with the lobotomy chair, but Sebastian couldn’t see what he was doing. “It’ll be just a few more minutes. I’m a little disappointed, to be honest with you. I thought it was all going to work out, but it wasn’t. You were going to come after me, they were going to come after me… Oh it was a mess, it was a horrible mess indeed.”

There was shuffling around Sebastian, and he was trying to turn to see what was happening. He found darkness covering his eyes then, but nothing of a lack of consciousness. It was the piece that surrounded his head, and he found himself shaking.

No way this freak was going to use it on him. No way.

“I wish it was easier than this,” Ruvik began to say. “It’s not fair it has to be like this. You were supposed to be mine. Mine from the very beginning, I had everything planned out perfectly. That fool Oda ruined it, I just know it. He kept putting doubts in your head about the case… about us. He ruined us, Sebastian. It was going to be so good between us. But I can fix it. I’ll put it right back the way it was, the way it’s supposed to be. Then we can have our time, and people like Joseph Oda won’t get in the way. No… I’ll make sure of that.”

Overwhelming pain shot through Sebastian’s body as the chair came to life and needles pressed into his head, other syringes into his wrists, and then a numbing feeling. There was something being injected into his system. He felt like he would vomit. His chest was heaving, senses growing dull, and he could barely hear the small laugh that came from Ruvik.

“You’re mine, Sebastian,” he said, and Sebastian felt a delicate hand on his chin, his cheek, tracing his lips. He felt horrified… Yet…

The pain seared through his body once again, stronger than before. Senses overwhelming. He couldn’t take it. And he couldn’t even scream. There was nothing he could do.

And as before, everything went to darkness.

His only thought the moment he fell unconscious was of Ruvik.

**Ruvik and his twisted games.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of Passive guys. It's been a wild ride I hope.
> 
> Aggression will be coming out soon (probably the day after this chapter is posted ahahahahahaha) I hope you like it. And I hope it was worth those long months waiting.

The office was empty. It was strange to see it empty, normally there was just one or two people present. Having it be so void of life disturbed Joseph as he walked into Sebastian’s office. “It doesn’t even look like he moved anything…” Peering through Sebastian’s things, his papers were unmoved, things that Sebastian should have taken care of since he got back from the village near the manor. Flipping out his phone, Joseph dialed his number. There wasn’t a ring, straight to voicemail. “Sebastian, what the hell….” Shaking his head, he looked down at all the papers. “Where could he be…”

Joseph had a dreading feeling in the pit of his stomach but he ignored it as he called Juli, walking out of the depo towards his car. “Kidman, it’s Joseph,” he said, climbing into the car. “Have you seen Sebastian today? He wasn’t at the office.” The reply he got was less than satisfactory. “I’m going to stop by his place, see if he’s taking the day off. I can’t imagine why he would, but the guy does need a break now and again… We get on him enough about taking vacation, if he decided to do one now…”

The conversation was brief, and Joseph was quickly hanging up and arriving at the small house that Sebastian owned just a few minutes later. It was a quiet neighborhood, and Sebastian didn’t even have a garage, his home was so small. His car was gone, not a trace of it to be found down the street. “What the hell... “

Parking up on the curb, Joseph trotted over to the front door and knocked. He rang the bell next.

Nothing.

“I didn’t hear him pull up last night.” The neighbor family had their kids out playing on the lawn, the mother and father looking over at Joseph with worry. “He usually comes home pretty late, but he didn’t last night.” Because of Sebastian’s presence in the house, many families felt comfortable moving into the area, living close by to a good police officer and now detective like Sebastian Castellanos. “Is everything going okay?”

Joseph found himself reassuring the family, watching the children play for a bit before heading back on the road. His head was running through all of Sebastian’s possible locations. The sinking feeling in his chest grew stronger as he ruled out place after place. So many of the locations that came to mind Sebastian hadn’t frequented in months, even years, at least to his understanding. He would have known if Sebastian was back at the local bar, or if any other worse things may have occurred.

There was only one place he figured that Sebastian would be, and for a moment Joseph felt angry.

Sebastian knew better. He knew that Ruvik was the one who killed those people. Why he did was still beyond Joseph, but he was certain that Ruvik was the one. Why would Sebastian go back there, then? He knew not to get involved with killers. And Joseph was sorely conscious that Sebastian was intimate with Ruvik at least on one occassion.

How long had this been going on?

The manor was quiet when Joseph arrived. The detective wasted no time in going to he door, knocking and waiting. There was silence all around him, and he waited a little longer before knocking again. There was still no response, and Joseph wondered for a moment if Sebastian was inside, doing unspeakable things with the man that killed now four doctors. His car wasn’t there, but Sebastian could have hid it to try to get Joseph off his path.

Who knows.

Joseph wasn’t going to wait any longer. Leaning on the door, he seized up the wood a moment, pressing his shoulder into it and taking a deep breath. After a moment, he backed up a couple of steps, then moved forward quick, throwing all his weight agaisnt the door. He was right to judge that the door and lock were thin and fragile - he remembered Sebastian telling him Ruvik had break in problems.

Seems like Ruvik wasn’t lying about everything after all.

The door opening with a crack, Joseph looked around the entrance hall. No sounds. Only silence.

“Sebastian?” he called out. Every door in the manor was closed, save for one directly ahead. It led to what looked like a hallway, the other end being a personal lounge. It almost looked as though it was meant to be a secret. Joseph felt the hairs on his neck stick up and he drew out his gun, walking down the hallway. There were no other doors, and if felt as though the hall was going on forever. When he reached the end, he peered in. It was indeed a private lounge, one that seemed old and unused. He was right to guess that, as there was a thick layer of dust over almost everything.

Stepping in, he found what he was looking for almost instantly. There was a secret door in the wall, furniture pushed aside to reveal it. Ruvik hadn’t even bothered to close it when he was…

When whatever happened had happened.

Peering in, he saw a dimly lit staircase going down, and he took to them. Joseph found himself in a basement, cold and damp and barely lit by twinkling, faded lightbulbs. It looked like a storage room, and there was a door just on the other end of the room, beside a small desk. The moment he got to the door and opened it, he was overwhelmed with nausea.

The room smelled of rotting bodies and blood and sterile liquid. He looked inside and felt sick to his stomach at a makeshift morgue, bodies strewn about and some even in piles. There were more bodies waiting in body bags, likely rotting deep within. There was writing all over the walls in charcoal, papers tacked on in messy writing. On the shelves were organs in jars, all neatly labelled. The gurney sitting in the middle of the room was even more horrifying.

Approaching the gurney, Joseph saw Sebastian’s tie and vest. The ones he was wearing from just yesterday. They were messy and ragged and Joseph was trying not to vomit at the smell around him. All around it were photos of Sebastian. Many of them Joseph recognized from earlier times in Sebastian’s life - hell, Joseph was even in a few of them. Was Ruvik…?

There was a little note in the corner that Joseph took up to read. The scrawling writing was a mess, but it was made clear that it was more or less a confession.

“They will kill me - get Seb, he will protect me - Marcelo knows too much - sort this out - escape” It was almost like a to do list. So casual and even happy.

“He will protect me…?”

Looking around the room, Joseph spotted a wall that is filled with the frightening version of the Beacon symbol. He approached, head tilting, and he gently pushed on it. The stone gave way, but pushed open like a door instead of collapsing as it had on Beacon. This time, the catacombs were obvious to Joseph.

This time there were lit torches to show him the way.

He sprinted.

Following each flicker of light, Joseph wasted no time. He had to catch up. Find Sebastian. Stop Ruvik from whatever the hell he was doing. Who was going to kill him? What did Marcelo know? His mind was racing. Why did he need Sebastian to protect him? Why did he want SEBASTIAN in the first place? Why not someone else? And the photos… god, many of them were from five or so years ago.

There was a break in the bricks and Joseph found himself stumbling into the basement of the Beacon mental hospital. How long was he running? He didn’t even feel tired. He sprinted in the dark, tripping over boxes and medical wear until he was out in the light of the hallway. The old rooms were all open, exposing the old beds were patients lay. One was closed, though. Joseph peered inside, and he saw Leslie in the corner, crying. The only thing Joseph could hear from him was, “Ruvik… Ruvik… Ruvik…”

“Tatiana?” Joseph ran into the waiting room. Tatiana was sitting behind the counter, reading. She looked pale, and did not look up from her book. Joseph approached, his body shaking. She had to know where they were. She had to. “Where did they go?”

She just hummed, not looking up to meet his gaze. Then she raised a hand and pointed to the side.

Joseph looked over to the room cut off by the barred door. The lobotomy chair sat there in its gloom, and it had a small note on it. Walking in, Joseph picked it up.

And he found himself trying not to cry.

In lovely handwriting, unlike the messy ones he saw in that basement lab, three words in dark ink stood out on pale white paper.

**He Is Mine**


End file.
